Spain checks rail network after deadly crash

Spain state railway track operator Adif said today it is checking its network after last week's train derailment that killed 79 people, the country's worst train disaster in decades.
"After the accident, the protocol is to check that everything is working properly," a spokeswoman for the company said.
"This is a precautionary measure. After what happened, the protocol is to review all systems to confirm that everything is working properly."
All tracks and security systems will be reviewed, the spokeswoman said.
A spokesman for Spain's state railway operator Renfe refused to comment, but daily newspaper El Pais reported that the company was also reviewing its safety systems in the wake of Wednesday's accident.

The fast-moving train -- a model able to adapt between high-speed and normal tracks -- flew off the tracks on a sharp bend and ploughed into a concrete siding about four kilometres from pilgrimage town of Santiago de Compostela.

At the site of the accident the train was passing through an urban area on a stretch of conventional track instead of a high-speed track, the Adif spokeswoman said.
The driver of the train, Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, was charged Sunday with 79 counts of reckless homicide and released under court supervision.
El Pais has reported that Garzon had told railway officials by radio that the train had taken a curve at 190 kilometres an hour -- more than double the 80 kph speed limit for that section of track.