The Government approves a decree-law on railway security and personnel protection

On November 10, 2026, the Council of Ministers approved Royal Decree-Law 34/2026, on urgent measures to reinforce operational safety in rail transport and the social protection of railway personnel. The text is published in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado) no. 281, of November 11, 2026, Section I, page 152093, with reference BOE-A-2026-23603. The regulation modifies Royal Decree 929/2020 on railway operational safety and interoperability and Law 38/2015 of the railway sector, and enters into force on the day of its publication, except for its first article.

The decree-law consists of two articles, one additional provision, and three final provisions, and is issued under article 86 of the Constitution. The urgency is justified by the dissolution of the General Courts agreed upon by Royal Decree 806/2026, of October 5, and the call for general elections for November 29, 2026: with the Government in an acting capacity, it is not possible to process these measures through parliamentary channels, not even via the urgency procedure, and several require the status of law. The text bears the signature of the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, and was promoted upon the proposal of the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility —by substitution, the First Vice President of the Government and Minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, by virtue of Royal Decree 975/2026, of November 4— and the Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.

Its scope is the Railway Network of General Interest and interoperable lines, and it directly involves railway companies and infrastructure managers, who are required to review their service graphs and planning systems in the midst of the 2027 schedule programming.

A single criterion for counting driving hours

The first article rewrites article 36 of Royal Decree 929/2020, which maintains the maximums of six hours of continuous driving and nine hours in a working day, but eliminates the ambiguity regarding which periods are summed. The following shall be computed in full as driving time:

• Maneuvers involving the handling of the vehicle in motion.
• Interruptions in which the driver remains responsible for the train, paying attention to traffic, regardless of their duration.
• Any period of less than 45 minutes between the cessation of driving and its resumption, even if the driver is relieved from the vehicle or assigned other tasks.
• Interruptions of 45 minutes or more during tests, trials, auscultations, or verifications, if the personnel remain in immediate operational availability.

Vehicle commissioning and decommissioning, as well as the technical and administrative preparation of the train, are excluded unless they take place within the aforementioned periods. Activities on networks other than the General Interest Railway Network are also counted, and in the case of exceptional dual-driving—one driver qualified for the vehicle and another for the infrastructure—the time counts simultaneously for both.

More access for inspection

Article 146 strengthens the supervision of the State Railway Safety Agency: any natural or legal person subject to an inspection action must facilitate access to their facilities and equipment, and railway entities must open their facilities, rolling stock, and equipment when the supervision is directed at another entity. With the previous wording, this access depended on voluntary cooperation, which limited actions such as the supervision of lines from the cab or of railway companies on platforms and premises of the infrastructure manager.

“Just culture” enters railway law

The second article introduces a new Chapter IV to Title V of Law 38/2015, dedicated to just culture, with an Article 71 which establishes:

• Personnel with safety functions may report risks through their entity’s channels or any public notification system, without using internal channels, with identity confidentiality.
• The competent body may provide a reasoned exemption from sanction if the information was presented before the initiation of the procedure, the cessation of the infringement is proven, and there was full cooperation.
• In the face of a serious and imminent risk, personnel may interrupt the journey or refrain from starting it, communicating this without delay when the urgency does not require immediate action.
• Retaliation or unfavorable treatment by the employer is prohibited.

Protection does not cover willful misconduct or gross negligence, and the notified information is subject to a strict duty of confidentiality and access traceability. Additionally, a new letter g) is added to Article 110.1 as a criterion for the grading of sanctions.

Early retirement for the entire sector

The sole additional provision extends the regime of reduction coefficients from Article 3 of Royal Decree 2621/1986 to workers of railway companies operating on interoperable lines or on the General Interest Railway Network, provided they perform one of the specified categories. Furthermore, the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration shall initiate the procedure provided for in Royal Decree 402/2025, of May 27, to incorporate other categories exposed to arduous, toxic, dangerous, or unhealthy work, at the request of the trade unions with representation in the sector; the Directorate General for Social Security Planning may update the list by resolution, following a report from the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility and the State Labor and Social Security Inspectorate.

Article one, however, shall not apply until six months after publication—May 11, 2027—to allow companies to adapt driving schedules; the remainder takes effect from November 11, 2026. The decree-law thus unifies the regime for those performing the same work on the same network, strengthens the regulator’s oversight capacity, and protects workers who alert to a risk—three fronts that equally affect the daily operation of trains and the safety of passengers.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 281, November 11, 2026, Sec. I. General provisions, p. 152093 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-23603).