Renfe extends high-speed tender deadline by two weeks
SPAIN: Renfe has pushed back the submission deadline for its high-speed train tender from 9 to 23 June after manufacturers requested more time to prepare their bids — the first sign of friction in a procurement Spain has positioned as its largest rolling stock purchase in history.
The extension was confirmed 1 June. The public opening of financial offers, scheduled for 9 September, is unchanged.
Specifications proved hard to digest
The original deadline was already unusually tight. Manufacturers had six weeks from the date technical specifications were handed over — in person, under non-disclosure agreements — to prepare bids for a contract requiring the first five trains in service within 40 months and the full fleet of 30 within 78.
That manufacturers pushed back suggests the specifications carry enough complexity to make the original window unrealistic. The financial opening on 9 September remains intact, leaving the overall timeline towards a contract award — targeted for early 2027 — unaffected for now.
Siemens Mobility and Hitachi Rail are the leading candidates. The base order covers 30 trains at 350 km/h, valued at EUR 1.36 billion; an option for ten more would take the total to EUR 1.78 billion.