Talgo to deliver its first high-speed Avril train in November, almost two years late

Talgo will deliver the first units of its Avril model high-speed train in November, ready for commercial operation, nearly two years ahead of the initial schedule. The commissioning of the 30 trains that make up Renfe’s 106 series and which were awarded to the Basque manufacturer will be scaled down, Talgo assured this Thursday after a meeting held on Wednesday with Renfe’s management.

In this way, a long dispute between the public rail transport company and the manufacturer has come to an end. Renfe Operadora acquired a total of 30 Avril units from Talgo in 2016 for 787 million euros, 15 of which conform to standard gauge, dedicated entirely to running on high-speed lines. The other fifteen, with movable bearings and dual voltage, allow high speed and indirect operation on conventional infrastructure. The first trains were supposed to be delivered in January 2021, but Talgo failed to meet the schedule, so Renfe announced it would request compensation of 116 million for damages.

The commissioning of Talgo Averille is important to feed the new high-speed lines opened by Renfe, in particular, the connection between Galicia and Asturias with Madrid. Transport Minister Raquel Sánchez had already announced during her last visit to Galicia that the Talgo trains would be ready for commissioning in November, although the date they will start operating is not yet certain. The manufacturer takes refuge in ensuring that the remaining “actors” meet their deadlines related to the approval process, with reference to the State Agency for Railway Safety (AESF) and the European Union Railway Agency, which must authorize the new Check the rolling stock beforehand that it is completely secure.

“The homologation process for any train is by definition complex, but in the case of the new technologies equipped with the Talgo Avril, the homologation process is a challenge for everyone involved. It is a technically brand new train and capable of traveling at a speed of 360 kilometers per hour on any gauge (ibérico y convencional), an unprecedented fact in the world which means that its certification must be particularly thorough”, Talgo. Indicates.

a flexible train

Avril, he recalls, is a highly flexible rolling stock, “which allows each delivery to be adapted to the increasingly complex needs of the European rail market, including changing their internal commercial configuration, track gauge (Iberian and Iberian) There are different blocks depending on their capability. International), and its equipment is also to be operated north of the Pyrenees”.

In short, Renfe depends on the delivery of Avrils to meet its plans to re-operate the high-speed lines with France, following the unilateral breakdown by the French SNCF of the agreement that the two public companies will operate on routes between Spain and Spain. marketing of. Neighboring country

Talgo Averill holds the world speed record in Iberian gauge, which it reached on September 7, 2022, on the Ourense-Santiago de Compostela high-speed line in Galicia. One of the outstanding features of this state-of-the-art train is that its 12 passenger cars and 200 meter length structure are situated on one floor and at the same height as the platform, allowing passengers to access the train. And move around Its entire interior without stairs or ramps.

CAF will have to make 130 temporary employees permanent

CAF to make 130 employees permanent

According to a decision of the Labor Inspectorate, the railway material manufacturer CAF will have to make 130 permanent employees with temporary contracts. The beneficiaries of this measure work in the Beasan and Irun centers in Gipuzkoa. At the plants they add to a workforce of about 3,000 professionals, with the group making up 4.3%, as reported by the LAB union.

The union states that on 25 April it denounced before the labor inspectorate the “fraudulent use” that CAF made of the modalities of temporary contracts to cover “entirely observable” jobs, according to the union Was. From the LAB they say that these contracts have reached a period of one year when there are specific rules that specifically the event cannot extend beyond three months. And the LAB advances that the CAF will have to make permanent other operators with “irregular contracts”. The group has a workforce of over 13,000 workers spread across factories in various countries.

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