Talgo Avril

The Talgo Avril is a high-speed trainset platform built by Talgo, designed for 330 km/h operation and equipped with gauge-changing running gear that lets it run on both standard gauge (1,435 mm) and Iberian gauge (1,668 mm).

The Talgo Avril is operated by Renfe as Series 106. The fleet runs commercially at up to 330 km/h, while the platform has a technical maximum speed of 380 km/h. Gauge changing at dedicated changeover installations allows through services from the standard-gauge high-speed network onto Iberian-gauge conventional lines — the central capability for serving Galicia, Asturias and other regions beyond the high-speed network.

Design

The Avril applies Talgo’s articulated short-car architecture to very high speed, with a power car at each end. It is the first train in commercial service with Talgo’s wide body of 3,200 mm, against 2,942 mm for standard Talgo stock, enabling 3+2 seating and a capacity of over 600 passengers per unit.

Fleet and service entry

Renfe ordered the trains through a 2016 tender for 15 units, later extended to 30. Deliveries ran years late, and commercial service began in May 2024. The fleet was split into 15 fixed-gauge and 15 variable-gauge subseries, but Renfe and Talgo have since agreed to convert the 15 fixed-gauge sets to variable gauge — an investment of EUR 132 million — after the fixed-gauge running gear exhibited cracking issues that the gauge-changing design has not.

Beyond Renfe

French open-access operator Le Train signed a contract for 10 Avril trainsets in July 2023, Talgo’s first high-speed sale in France, though certification in France remains pending. Renfe’s Series 107 — rebuilds of existing Talgo coaches with new Avril-platform power cars — extends the technology into a second fleet.