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 initial order contemplates the transformation of 156 cars, to form 13 trains of 12 cars each, and is possible only thanks to the lightness and scalability of the self-steering independently rotating wheel technology, that is exclusive to Talgo trains, and allows reducing the overall weight of the train and minimizes the stress state of the infrastructure, resulting in lower needs of maintenance of both the infrastructure and the trains themselves.
State-of-the-art powerheads
These power heads, two for each train, are adjusted to the Iberian and European standard track gauges, and will also be multi-system, to adapt to various existing catenary voltages existing in our country: 3 kV in direct current and 25 kV in alternating current. In this way, they will be able to run both on conventional lines and on the new high-speed infrastructure, shortening travel times in the Iberian Peninsula.
As they are part of the same series of 62 units as the trains already ordered by Renfe (60) and Adif (2), the operator will also benefit from economies of scale in maintenance, and it will lead to new options for rolling stock fleet complementarity.
Fully accessible trains
Esto hará que los coches transformados sean indistinguibles de otros coches Talgo, reduciendo de forma significativa la duración de las operaciones de carga y descarga de viajeros en comparación a otros trenes con escalones y, en particular, respecto a las unidades de dos pisos. Esto no sólo aumentará el atractivo comercial para el cliente final, sino que además mejorará el flujo de personas en las estaciones y permitirá aliviar la situación de las infraestructuras con mayores problemas de capacidad.
Modularity at the service of the operator
This will make it possible to put rolling stock, that has been parked and not performing, to new use, upgrading it in a cost-effective manner so that it can be put back into service, in line with the core principle of reuse underpinning the so-called Circular Economy. These upgrades are being carried out at Talgo's factories in Las Matas (Madrid) and Rivabellosa (Basque Country).
Increased capacity for a competitive market
Short cars of 13.14 meters in length, that characterize Talgo trains, will continue to be an advantage as they offer smart modular design of interior spaces that can quickly and easily accommodate different commercial demands throughout the rolling stock service life.
