The president of Adif resigns one week after the train accident in Toledo

BarcelonaThe until now president of Adif, Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña, presented his resignation this Wednesday to the Spanish government's vice president, Carlos Cuerpo, who was also debuting today as Minister of Transport. This is confirmed by sources from the Spanish government. Marco de la Peña has resigned from his position at the railway operator the day after the now former Minister of Transport Óscar Puente also resigned, and one week after the tragic train accident in Urda (Toledo), which has left 69 fatalities.

According to sources familiar with the decision who informed Europa Press, Marco de la Peña had already conveyed to Óscar Puente his intention to leave the position before Wednesday's meeting with Cuerpo. Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña had been running Adif since September 2024. Although the option that he might leave the position or be dismissed had been rumored in recent days, until now the Moncloa had assured that it did not foresee any dismissal, just as it did not have on the table that former minister Puente would resign.

Cuerpo explained that he sees Marco de la Peña's decision as appropriate, and thanked him for his work at the helm of Adif. The new minister explained during a brief intervention on the TVE news that the until now president of Adif had put forward reasons similar to those presented by Puente when he announced his resignation. Precisely the first conversation he had once the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, announced his appointment as head of Transport was with the outgoing minister with the goal of "regaining the trust" of the Spanish citizenry in the railway system. This Thursday Cuerpo will meet with representatives of the train drivers' unions who have called for two days of strikes on November 10 and 12, in addition to the general strike scheduled for November 11.

Adif: four presidents in seven years

With the resignation of Luis Pedro Marco, Adif has now accumulated four presidents in just seven years. The predecessor of Marco de la Peña –who was the first president of Adif who did not come from within the company, but rather was a signing by Puente– was Ángel Contreras, who held the position between the years 2023 and 2024. Before him, Adif was presided over by two women: María Luisa Domínguez and Isabel Pardo de Vera, who were presidents between 2021 and 2023 and between 2018 and 2021, respectively.