From the moment it was formed, Talgo has been inextricably linked with innovation. Indeed the company was established on the basis of a specific innovation – the independently rotating wheelset with guiding system. This was a major creative and entrepreneurial milestone at the time and has remained the foundation of the company’s success.
Innovation, our DNA
Reinventing Innovation
Using its idea of an independently rotating wheelset with guiding system as the starting point, Talgo has continually built on this concept to develop various technological innovations which have placed the company at the forefront of the railway sector. These include its variable gauge system (RD), natural tilting, variable gauge for driving axles, bi-axle running gear with independently rotating wheels and high-speed and very-high speed trains. Never straying from our commitment to innovation, we continue to work on disruptive projects that will substantially improve our present and future products.
Technological innovation is complemented by a transversal philosophy, responsible for the creation and maintenance of corporate tools and services that effectively spread the seed of innovation to all areas of the company.
Hympulso, renewable H2 value chain project
Associated with 6 other companies, Talgo is leading the Hympulso project, which looks to develop hydrogen technology applied to rail mobility by integrating the entire value chain, from generation of green hydrogen, through the supply infrastructure, its application in trains and its impact on railway infrastructures. Talgo is developing a new fuel cell-battery CET to replace the current diesel traction CET on a Talgo 250, making the most versatile and cleanest gauge-change train on the industry, which can be powered by catenary, batteries, or a combination of fuel cell-battery, enabling it to run on conventional and high-speed lines.
Talgo is leading a consortium of six companies (four large corporations and two SMEs) that are working to develop technology and local knowledge on the application of hydrogen in rail mobility, while overcoming the barriers that currently delay the transition to clean rail mobility based on green hydrogen.
The result of Hympulso will address several challenges at different levels of the green hydrogen value chain.
The most versatile hydrogen train prototipe on the market
Capable of running on non-electrified lines, thanks to hydrogen and batteries; on electrified tracks at two voltages (25 kVAC -high speed lines- and at 3 kVDC -main lines-) and on lines with two different track gauges (Iberian gauge -1668 mm- and UIC gauge -1435 mm-), thanks to its automatic gauge change system. All this will be achieved with zero emissions. The prototype will feature important innovations in the traction chain: its highly efficient converters, safe passive ventilation models, a driving model that optimizes the use of the different energy sources for a specific route on a virtual twin or the application of additive manufacturing to improve the weight and durability of the equipment, further improving efficiency and, in short, its contribution to the decarbonization of mobility.
Production and supply of renewable hydrogen
Development of two hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS) for the railroad, one fixed HRS with generation capacity and one HRS mobile. In parallel, an integrated management platform is being developed to control the consumption and availability of hydrogen in very moment, to manage demand and to work on a national hydrogen strategy applied to the railway system.
Operation and maintenance safety of railway facilities
In addition, work is being carried out on the analysis of the effects derived from the use of hydrogen in daily operations, developing safety protocols that will focus on safety in rail infrastructure (tunnels, especially), in vehicle maintenance and storage facilities, and in fuelling operations.
Products
Transversals
Development of innovative technological solutions that provide sustained growth over time.
- Optimization systems
- Vibrational control
- Low-power display system
- Traction
- Motorized bogie
- Pantograph
- Energy optimization
- Rolling stock
- Bi-Wheel
- Special suspension
- Box
- Lightening of primary structures
- Thermal and Acoustic Insulators
- Box positioning systems
Cross-cutting projects
Some of these transversal projects are carried out within the framework of a more global project known as “New running gear for increasing energetic efficiency and safety of passenger trains”, which is focused on the development of two innovative solutions: passenger safety and comfort enhancement, on the one hand, and reduction of energy consumption by Talgo trains, on the other.
In 2015 the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness granted an aid to the group, formed by Talgo and Technical University of Madrid under the program “Challenge and Collaboration” number RTC-2015-3977-4, whose objective consisted in promoting technological development, innovation and high-quality research.
This project was financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and by the European Regional Development Fund.
Similarly, some of these developments have been carried out by means of the following projects, which have been awarded grants from the “Center for Industrial Technology Research (CDTI)” and co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the “Multi-regional Operational Program for Intelligent Growth”.
PARFAIT project
PARFAIT project "Railway self-configurable and interoperable platform” aimed to the development of technologies towards enabling a new train concept for the Intercity market, based on a flexible and scalable proposal.
RAILAD project
RAILAD project "Research on the integration and implementation of additive manufacturing technologies for the development of functional elements in railway rolling stock" has aimed to obtain strategic information on future lines of action in which additive manufacturing can be applied .
ACEMAV project
ACCEMAV project. "New fully accessible car for very high speed" has had the objective of developing a fully accessible extreme car that increases the total capacity of the train and that is compatible with pendulum rolling and gauge change technology, guaranteeing flexibility in operation and increased speed range.
RODEMAV project
RODEMAV project, “Development of a new variable gauge running gear for high-speed trains” has addressed the development of new independent wheels running gears for very high speed, for both bi-axle and mono-axle with variable gauge configurations. Jointly, work has been carried out to optimize the weight of primary structures.
FLEXITRAC project
FLEXITRAC project, “New developments for more flexible and efficient operations in railway traction”, that has aimed the development of solutions to be implemented in future state-of-the-art powerheads, based on Talgo technology, and focused on improving operational flexibility and energy efficiency.
SITAV project
Finally, several of these key challenges focused on efficiency and performance improvement for the main train’s system have been approached under the SITAV project “Research on integrated subsystems into a platform for testing very high-speed trains”.
VITTAL ONE project
The VITTAL-ONE project ‘Vehicle with dual traction (hydrogen/electric) Talgo for non-electrified networks’, with the aim of developing a traction chain based on hydrogen and batteries that can propel the train using hydrogen and batteries on non-electrified tracks, or from the catenary on electrified sections.
Europe's Rail
Europe’s Rail Project
Europe’s Rail Joint Undertaking (EU-Rail) is the large European partnership dedicated to rail research and innovation, successor of Shift2Rail, and established under the Horizon Europe programme (2020-2027).
EU-Rail is made up of the European Commission and 25 Founding Members representing the railway sector from its different domains: operation, infrastructure management, research centres and suppliers of rolling stock, equipment and systems. Together, all these entities have set the strategic objectives of the sector around 7 major thematic areas aimed at achieving a high capacity integrated European rail network, removing barriers to interoperability and offering fully integrated solutions, covering traffic management, vehicles, infrastructure and services, with the objective of achieving faster adoption and deployment of projects and innovations. This should harness the huge potential of digitalisation and automation to reduce rail costs, increase capacity and improve flexibility and reliability, and should be based on a robust functional reference system architecture shared by the industry, in coordination with the European Union Railway Agency (ERA).
In this respect, the overall objective of the partnership will be to ensure a rapid transition towards a more attractive, user-friendly, competitive, affordable, easy to maintain, efficient and sustainable European rail system, integrated into the wider mobility system. EU-Rail will support the development of a strong and globally competitive European rail industry through projects funded (approx. 45%) through the Horizon Europe programme, contributing to the achievement of the Single European Railway Area (SERA).
Talgo’s contribution to the project
Talgo, which together with Indra is one of the 25 Founding Members, will continue the work undertaken in Shift2Rail and will redouble its efforts to develop solutions focused on intelligent and predictive maintenance, bringing significant economic and environmental benefits. In addition, Talgo will work on the development of lighter and more efficient trains using new materials and processes, as well as traction using permanent magnet motors. These two lines will also evolve to improve the performance of its trains and encourage the transition to the circular economy, exploring the recyclability of raw materials. Other developments will be added to all this, such as increasing efficiency in hydrogen traction or the development of more flexible and attractive interiors for operators and users.
Corporate Innovation
At Talgo we work to strengthen the base on which we are located, and we believe that Innovation must be the key to achieving a new competitive dimension through new strategies.
Corporate tools aimed at promoting creativity and innovation as a means to ensure competitive advantages.
Europe's Rail (HE), the successor to Shift2Rail, is a major European research and innovation initiative focused on developing innovative railway products.
Knowledge management
Corporate initiative aimed at the creation, codification, retrieval and sharing of the company's strategic knowledge. This approach favours learning and innovation, encouraging employee participation and development.
For Talgo, knowledge is one of its main assets, which is why knowledge management initiatives are permanently connected to the objectives, strategies and priorities of the business, facing new challenges and providing an accelerated response to the demands of the market.
Strategic Intelligence
A system that structures the identification, selection, capture and monitoring of all external information that can become added value to the technological development of the company, allowing the minimisation of risks during decision-making, strategic anticipation in the face of technological changes in the sector and the detection of opportunities.
