> “A human error by an [state-owned railway infrastructure company] Adif operator in response to a malfunction in the main signaling system is the likely cause of the accident,” government sources said. This safety system is automated, but when it fails, it switches to manual mode. That is why the trains came to a stop when the automatic safety system failed, and service resumed under human control — and that is where the error occurred, according to initial analyses.

This is not the first time something broadly like that happens. In 2013 another train crashed because there was a section of the track where the operator had to manually adjust the speed, and he didn't.

One would think that the operation of these trains would be fully automated at all times, and with sufficient allowances to handle emergencies safely.

Point in case: Japan has not had a single death due to a crash of a high speed train, even though they have been operating an extensive network for decades.