Black box shows train driver was on phone

The driver at the centre of last week's Spanish rail disaster was speaking on the telephone at the moment his train derailed, data from the "black box" recorders has shown.

Francisco Jose Garzon Amo, 52, 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 a statement released by a court in northern Spain.

He had received a call from controllers on his work mobile and was being given instructions on what route to take to his final destination.

He may also have been consulting a map at the time, according to the court in Santiago de Compostela.

"Minutes before the train came off the tracks he received a call on his work phone to get indications on the route he had to take to get to Ferrol," the statement said. "From the content of the conversation and background noise it seems that the driver consulted a map or paper document."

The statement on the preliminary findings did not indicate whether such a phone conversation is common between a driver of a moving train and a controller, and it did not say how long the call lasted.

It did not name the Renfe official who called the driver.

The court also said the train had been travelling up to 192km/h just before the crash, but the driver had braked and slowed to 153km/h by the time it flew off the tracks.

Data recovered from the two black box recorders were handed over to Luis Alaez, the magistrate overseeing the investigation to determine the causes of Spain's worst rail accident for seven decades.

Garzon was released on Monday 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 he was on another section of track.

Authorities have said a high-tech automatic braking programme called the European Rail Traffic Management System was installed on most of the high-speed track leading from Madrid north to Santiago de Compostela, the route Garzon's train took.

But the cutting-edge coverage stops just 5km south of where the crash occurred, placing a greater burden on the driver to take charge.

The Spanish rail company has said the brakes should have been applied 4km before the train hit the curve.

A court spokeswoman said the boxes "did not indicate any technical failures" contributed to the accident.

The train was carrying 218 passengers plus crew from Madrid bound for the port city of El Ferrol when it derailed, killing 79 people. Hospital officials said 66 people were still being treated for injuries and that 16 of those, including a child, were "critical".

- Daily Telegraph UK, AP