State rail operator head steps down after fiasco of trains not fitting tunnels
Renfe president, Isaías Táboas, and state secretary for transport resign over design mistake of 31 carriages
Renfe state rail operator president, Isaías Táboas, has stepped down after the fiasco of new trains not fitting tunnels in routes covering Cantabria and Asturias regions in the north of Spain.
Spanish transport secretary, the second-highest ranking member in the transports ministry, Isabel Pardo de Vera has also been sacked, as first reported by Spanish Cadena SER radio station and then confirmed by sources from Renfe.
Early in February, reports of 31 trains too wide to fit tunnels in those two regions already sparked outrage by many, including the Cantabria president, Miguel Ángel Revilla, who called for sackings regarding the "botch."
After the fiasco was first reported, Renfe and Adif, the company that manages railway infrastructure, already sacked the head of Renfe's travelers' management material and Adif's head of rail technology and inspection.
The Spanish government appointed Raül Blanco, member of the Catalan Socialists and former Spanish industry department secretary general, as replacement for Táboas.