Serie-107 - corporate

Applying the circular economy to railway industry

The Spanish manufacturer is once again demonstrating its technological capacity with a project that is unprecedented in the history of the world's railways, blurring the boundaries between normal and very high-speed trains and implementing the principles of the circular economy to the sector by reusing existing assets. Talgo will create up to 19 passenger trains from existing conventional units, with a maximum commercial speed of 330 km/h.

In June 2018 Renfe awarded Talgo the refurbishment of more than a hundred Talgo series 7 passenger cars, a technological platform of which the 130 and 730 series also form part. These units had initially been operated by Renfe under the commercial brand "Trenhotel" and were specially designed for overnight services on lines where both Iberian and European standard gauge coexist, although with a maximum speed limited to 220 km/h. They also lacked motive power, as they were loco-hauled.

The order specified the need to convert these units into day trains, raising their maximum commercial speed to over 300 kph, but maintaining in any case their ability to change gauge without stopping. Three years after the initial contract, Renfe also awarded Talgo the manufacture of 26 powerheads, two for each train. Both orders will allow creating 13 complete very high-speed trains that can be operated virtually throughout the entire Spanish electrified rail network, and, if all the options reserved by the operator are executed, this number would rise to 19 trains.

Conventional cars... at very high speed

The cars to be upgraded are all of Talgo's Series 7 and come mainly from those assigned to Trenhotel overnight services, although cars belonging to the Series 130, also manufactured by Talgo and which were in reserve, will also be modernized.

State-of-the-art powerheads

The 13 trains made up from the upgraded Series 7 cars will be fitted with cutting-edge traction technology: 26 powerheads essentially identical to those used in Renfe's 106 series and belonging to the Avril technology platform.

Fully accessible trains

The transformation of these trainsets will not affect one of the hallmarks of Talgo technology: the continuous platform-level floor. As the vehicle floors are built to match the station ground height, the passengers can walk straight in off platform, avoiding stairs or ramps, which make the trains fully accessible.

Modularity at the service of the operator

Talgo's Series 7 is modular and therefore specially designed so that it can be customized to suit the railway operator's needs, in a dynamic and ever-changing market. This technological capacity has made it possible to modify the structure of doors and windows, tailoring the car bodies to respond to new demands. As part of the project, the air conditioning output will also be increased and all types of systems and subsystems will be updated.

Increased capacity for a competitive market

The arrival of new operators in the Spanish railway sector has made it even more necessary to increase the performance of each service, and therefore their capacity. With this transformation and the use of new materials in the interior design configuration, the capacity will be increased to 405 passengers in a train composed of 10 tourist class cars and 1 business class car, plus a fully equipped cafeteria car.