Europe’s bet on Talgo
Four European buyers chose the same Spanish train for the conventional network without consulting each other, and a standard nobody declared took shape. The company behind it has a record order book. It has also shown once already that it cannot deliver on its own.
DB’s ICE L, DSB’s Copenhagen–Hamburg sets, Trafikverket’s 20 trains and up to 65 for FlixTrain all come from Talgo’s two Spanish plants. One company’s capacity and one balance sheet carry them.
The July settlement with Renfe shows what that position rests on. The customer pays EUR 132m to have 15 of its own Avril sets rebuilt, the EUR 116m penalty for late delivery waits until 2032, after the banks have been paid, and the Spanish state has stepped in twice to keep the company in Spanish hands.
Safety authorities in two countries are now involved with the same supplier, and Portugal’s CP decides by 14 September which applicants qualify for its high-speed fleet.
Go deeper: Europe’s bet on Talgo tightens
Signalling supplier owns the Czech failures
CZECHIA: Signalling supplier AŽD Praha has taken responsibility for two failures of a new signalling installation on the Prague–Pardubice main line on 31 August. The company has apologised to operators and passengers, and has offered the operators talks on compensation.
The statement came from managing director Zdeněk Chrdle on the company’s Facebook page. Infrastructure manager Správa železnic had placed the blame with its contractor, and AŽD had declined to comment.
The failures stopped traffic between Přelouč and Pardubice, where AŽD was installing axle counters in place of track circuits while trains kept running on the adjacent track. No operator has publicly said what it lost, or whether it will take up the offer.
Full story: Signalling supplier takes blame for Czech corridor failures
New cracks. Renfe doubles the checks.
SPAIN: Renfe will inspect the bogies on its fixed-gauge Avril sets every 5,000 km instead of every 10,000 km. The operator agreed the measure with train drivers’ union SEMAF on 4 September, after cracks took two trainsets out of service in August.
Renfe will also tighten the preventive criteria applied to bogie monitoring, which the company says will take further bogies and trains out of service. It has asked Talgo to intensify its analysis and identify the cause of the cracks.
Fifteen of the 30 Avril sets are fixed-gauge, and Renfe has contracted Talgo to convert all of them to variable-gauge running gear with new, more robust bogies. SEMAF has asked Spain’s rail safety agency to supervise the measures.
Full story: Renfe doubles bogie checks on Talgo Avril after new cracks
Škoda buys into Riga workshop to build Baltic maintenance hub
LATVIA: Škoda Group has bought 36% of Riga rolling stock workshop SIA L-Ekspresis, with an option on the remaining 64% by the end of 2028. The price was not disclosed.
Škoda wants the company to become its maintenance and service centre for the whole Baltic region, where its deliveries cover 32 electric multiple units for Latvia and 16 for Estonian operator Elron. No maintenance contract accompanies the announcement.
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