A fracture in a straight section of track "occurred prior to the passage" of a high-speed train that derailed, causing last Sunday's rail disaster in which 45 people died, an initial report has found.
A train run by private company Iryo derailed last Sunday and its rear carriages crossed on to the opposite track into the path of an oncoming train run by state-owned Renfe.
The CIAF rail investigation commission said not only did Iryo train's front carriages which stayed on the track have "notches" in their wheels, but three earlier trains that went over the track earlier did too.
A gap of almost 40cm (15in) in the track has become the focus of the investigation into the crash.
Sunday's deadly collision occurred at around 19:45 local time (18:45 GMT), about an hour after the Iryo train left Málaga for Madrid.
