Train driver in Spanish death crash was on phone to rail operator The Spanish train that crashed near the pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela last week, killing 79 passengers and crew, entered the tight curve where the accident took place at a much faster speed than allowed, according to an analysis of the train's black box released on Tuesday. An audio recording stored on the black box also revealed that the driver was speaking on the phone to officials from Renfe, the national railway operator, when the accident happened. The box, which chronicles the speed of a train and other crucial data, revealed the train was travelling at 153kph when it derailed, on a stretch of track where the speed limit is 80kph. The finding backs up a wealth of individual testimonies from witnesses as well as footage taken by a security camera, all of which pointed towards excessive speed as the cause of the crash. The box suggests the driver tried to slow down the train, but that he did so too late to prevent Spain's deadliest rail crash in more than four decades. It records that he operated the brakes only "seconds before" the crash, according to a statement from the investigating judge summing up the findings. Francisco Garzón, the driver, was quickly identified as the main focus of the investigation into the causes of the crash. Mr Garzón was named a formal suspect the day after the accident and police officials have said publicly that he may have behaved "recklessly." Mr Garzón gave his testimony to the investigating judge on Sunday after initially refusing to talk to police. According to Spanish media reports, he admitted he was travelling too fast. The judge released him after the testimony but ordered him to relinquish his passport and to hand in his train driver's licence. In a radio conversation between Mr Garzón and the station of Santiago de Compostela, recorded immediately after the accident occurred, the driver is reported to have told station officials that he was travelling at 190kph despite a speed limit of 80kph. "I hope there are no dead because they will be on my conscience," he was quoted as saying by Spanish media. The black box showed that the train was travelling at 192kph several kilometres before the crash, though it was not clear whether that speed was within the limit on the track on which it was then travelling.