Spanish train crash driver was on phone at 192km/h at time of derailment

The driver of a speeding train that derailed in Spain killing 78 people was speaking on the telephone at the time of the crash, data from the black box recorders has shown.

Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, who faces multiple charges of negligent homicide over the crash, was talking on the telephone to an official at Renfe, the state-owned railway operator.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the 52-year-old had received a call from controllers to give instructions on what route to take to his final destination.

The court also said that the train had been travelling as fast as 192km/h moments before the crash, but that the driver had hit the brakes and slowed to 153km/h by the time it derailed.

Data recovered from the two black box recorders on the train were handed over to Luis Alaez, the magistrate at the court in Santiago de Compostela, who is overseeing the investigation to determine the causes of the accident.

According to the report, Garzon was released on Sunday after a two-hour closed hearing in which he admitted 'a lapse of concentration' and speeding into the curve where the limit was 80km/h and claimed he thought that he was on another section of track.