Spanish transport secretary resigns after new trains too big for tunnels

Head of state rail company, Renfe, also quits as anger rises over fact trains built in £227.5m contract are too wide

Spain’s secretary of state for transport and the head of the state rail company have resigned amid continuing public and political anger after it emerged that dozens of new trains ordered for two northern Spanish regions were too big to fit through some tunnels.

Three years ago, the state rail operator, Renfe, announced plans to modernise the rolling stock on narrow-gauge commuter trains and medium-distance trains in Asturias and Cantabria.