Two of three Leo Express Talgo sets pulled from service
CZECHIA: Two of Leo Express’s three leased Talgo VI trainsets have been withdrawn from service within a week of their launch on new cross-border services linking Prague with Bratislava and Prešov.
Czech and Slovak media have reported an emergency stop at 150 km/h near Olomouc, door and air-conditioning failures, and a mid-route halt when the heating and cooling generator ran out of diesel.
A Leo Express spokesman acknowledged the problems to Czech news agency ČTK but attributed them to vandalism — a stone through a window in eastern Slovakia — and initial problems he described as normal for any new operation
Three sets, two corridors, no reserve
The three Talgo VI rakes were leased from Renfe, Leo Express’s 50% stakeholder, in October 2025. Built in the late 1980s and refurbished in 2019–20, the sets had been withdrawn from Spanish service before their transfer to Central Europe. Each carries 354 passengers across Economy and Business classes and is hauled by a leased Siemens Vectron locomotive.
Czech rail specialist publication Railvolution, which questioned the readiness of the deployment before service began, noted that the sets entered service without a prior operational test period and that three rakes across two long-distance corridors left no reserve capacity.
Generator van, not a backup
Each Talgo VI set relies on a dedicated diesel generator van for all auxiliary power — heating, cooling, lighting and doors. The Vectron locomotive provides traction only. When the generator ran out of diesel mid-route, heating, cooling, lighting and doors lost power simultaneously
One reported incident involved an emergency brake activation at 150 km/h on open track near Olomouc, with staff leaning out of doors to inspect the train while a service passed at full speed on the adjacent line.
What comes next
Full Praha–Bratislava service is expected to resume 14 May. The Praha–Prešov corridor remains reduced to a single daily working through the end of May. One set remains in service across both corridors.
Leo Express is scheduled to launch a Frankfurt–Leipzig–Dresden–Praha–Ostrava–Kraków–Przemyšl service on 25 June.
Correction: we previously stated Leo Express plans to use Talgo VI equipment on the Frankfurt service. Leo Express will operate Frankfurt routes with former DB coaches leased via Renfe Alquiler Rodante.