San Francisco Frontiers - Spain train drivers call strike after deadly accidents

A train driver died and 37 people were injured -- several seriously -- in the latest incident on Tuesday, when a commuter service hit a retaining wall that fell onto the tracks in Gelida near Barcelona.

Spain was already observing three days of national mourning from Sunday's collision involving two high-speed trains in the southern region of Andalusia that killed 43 people -- the country's deadliest rail accident in more than a decade.

The back-to-back tragedies have raised doubts about the safety of train travel in Spain, which boasts the world's second-largest high-speed network which has received huge investment in recent years.

The February 9-11 walkout will affect all train companies and is "the only legal route left for workers to demand the restoration of the rail system's safety" for staff and users, the Semaf driver union said in a statement.

The two disasters "represent a turning point", the union added, saying numerous reports about "the poor state of the tracks" went unanswered "for months, even years".

Transport Minister Oscar Puente said "we understand" the drivers' mood and demands "but we don't agree that a general strike is the best way to convey them", vowing to negotiate to have it called off.

"We cannot nor should we question our network or our country's public transport. It is not perfect, not infallible, but it is a great transport system," he told a press conference in Madrid.

Puente also stressed during an earlier interview with television station Telecinco that the two accidents were "completely unrelated", with the Barcelona-area one linked to weather conditions.

Railway infrastructure operator Adif said the wall likely collapsed due to heavy rainfall that has swept across Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia in recent days.

- 'Fix the problem' -

Services across the northeastern Catalonia region's main commuter rail network have been suspended completely after Tuesday's incident while safety checks are carried out. Officials say they will not resume until lines are considered safe.

Adif has also imposed a temporary 160-kilometre (100-mile) per hour speed limit on parts of the high-speed line between Madrid and Barcelona after train drivers reported bumps.

The conservative opposition Popular Party has demanded "an immediate clarification" from the leftist government, while worry has also crept in among some passengers.

Raluca Maria Pasca, a 45-year-old waitress, said she had noticed that high-speed trains "have been shaking lately".

"They need to fix the problem," she told AFP at the train station in the southern city of Cordoba.

Alexandra Leroy, a restaurant owner from France who was on holiday in Cordoba, said she was now "a little" worried to take the train.

"If it just happened in Barcelona too, twice, that's a lot," she added.

Spanish media reported that the probe into the accident in Andalusia was focusing on a crack more than 30 centimetres (12 inches) long in the track at the site of the accident.

The crack may have resulted from "a poor weld or a weld that deteriorated due to train traffic or weather", daily newspaper El Mundo said, citing unidentified technicians with access to the inquiry.

- 'Proper material used' -

Puente has said investigators are looking to see if a broken section of rail was "the cause or the result" of the derailment.

The section of track where the disaster happened had been renovated in May, making the accident "extremely strange", he added earlier this week.

Some unions have accused the Socialist government of using low-cost materials, a charge Puente called "outrageous".

Spain will hold a state tribute for the victims of the high-speed train collision on January 31 in the southern city of Huelva, one of the service's destination, the central and Andalusian regional governments said.

Another body was recovered Wednesday at the site of the accident near the village of Adamuz, bringing the confirmed death toll to 43, authorities said.

U.Campbell--SFF