Spain's Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, announced his resignation on Tuesday and, in the same statement, suspended all passenger rail services across the country until he could personally ride every line to verify that it was safe. The minister said he would begin at the Atocha terminal in Madrid and work outward, stopping at every station and sitting in every carriage for the full journey.
The ministry confirmed that the suspension would last until the minister had completed the inspection, which officials estimated would take him several months at the speed of regional trains. Engineers were reassigned to ride alongside him with tablets, and a timetable of stops was posted in every station hall. Passengers who had booked seats were offered refunds in cash, which had to be collected in person at the ministry's Valladolid office.
"A minister who cannot guarantee the trains is obliged to be on every one of them," Puente told reporters, holding his resignation letter in one hand and a sandwich in the other. He said he had informed the prime minister minutes before going public and had taken the decision in the first minutes after the hearing. He also withdrew from the next electoral list in Valladolid so that he would have time for the ride.
Opposition spokespeople welcomed the decision with unusual brevity. The minister's first stop, the ministry said, would be a station he had already left behind.