Following the terror bombings in Madrid in 2004, the first thing that crossed the minds of Spanish people, when hearing the news of the train disaster, was that it was another attack. Officals ruled out this possibilty, however, upon inspection of the accident. It was claimed that a broken wheel caused two of the train's carriages to run off its tracks in a tunnel. Other sources say that the wall of the tunnel collapsed and this was the cause of the crash.

The Pope Benedict XVI is supposed to visit Valencia in a few days, with plans for pilgrims to use the train systems - extra care will have to be taken to ensure their safety.