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Talgo delivers first Avril trains

12 de April de 2024

  • After completing the driver training process and the final on-track tests.
  • Almost 300,000km have been accumulated over the last year to check the full compatibility of the rolling stock with all types of railway lines in Spain.
  • Avril is Talgo’s most advanced train and will become a quality benchmark of the very high-speed rail segment.

Talgo started delivering the new Avril trains to Renfe this week, following the completion of driver training and the reliability and run-in track tests. With almost 300,000 km of running in the last year, half of which in 2024 alone, the tests ensure the full compatibility of the rolling stock with all types of railway lines in Spain, including those linking Galicia, Asturias, Catalonia and Valencia.

Some 200 Talgo employees have been working over the last few months to meet the technical challenges associated with a train that incorporates a number of technologies that are completely new and unique in the world, in teams that include Commissioning, Verification and Validation, Engineering and Maintenance.

The tests have also required the participation and coordination of teams from more than ten companies in the railway sector in Spain and two universities. The technical intensity of the process, which is now coming to an end, is reflected in the 700 train track-gauge changes made and the volumes of data recorded by the on-board sensor systems, with extensive files from around 500 journeys thoroughly analysed.

A technological and industrial commitment

Avril is Talgo’s most advanced train and will become a benchmark of quality in the very high-speed rail segment. Thanks to their high capacity -up to 581 passengers in a single train- and reduced weight, Avril trains minimise energy consumption and multiply efficiency. As a result, they reduce per capita greenhouse gas emissions and further strengthen rail’s position as the most sustainable mode of transport.

One of the outstanding features of this latest generation trains is that their 12-coach, 200-metre-long, single-deck units are 100% low-floor, at the same height as the platform, allowing passengers to easily access the train and move throughout its interior without steps or ramps.

This is a unique Talgo capability that not only facilitates access for people with reduced mobility, but also offers an easy journey for all passengers, from parents with prams to passengers with bulky luggage or bicycles.

New routes, new markets

Talgo Avril is part of a highly flexible technological platform that allows each delivery to be adapted to the increasingly complex needs of the European rail market, with different blocks available depending on their internal commercial configuration, their ability to automatically change track gauges (Iberian and International), and their equipment to operate also north of the Pyrenees.

Thanks to these capacities, they can be used on almost the entire electrified rail network, bringing even closer the destinations not yet served by the new high-speed rail infrastructures and, in the future, also on international connections between Spain and France. Talgo Avril holds the world speed record on Iberian track-gauge: 360 km/h, reached on 7 September 2022 on the Ourense-Santiago de Compostela high-speed line in Galicia.

About Talgo

Talgo is a leader in the design, manufacture and maintenance of high-speed and intercity trains, with industrial presence in Spain, Germany, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the United States. Recognised worldwide for its capacity for innovation, unique and distinctive technology and reliability, the company has a team of more than 3,300 people of around 50 nationalities.

Talgo is the main supplier of high-speed and very high-speed trains to Renfe, and the supplier of trains for the “Haramain” project between Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. Talgo is also the manufacturer chosen by Deutsche Bahn in Germany and the DSB in Denmark to decarbonise their mobility with Talgo 230 Intercity trains.