It seems that the soap opera of Renfe’s AVRIL trains is beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The company has already received the completely repaired trains from Talgo, according to The Economistwho claim that the company has confirmed this point to them. The first question is what will be the new destination of these trains. The second is whether they will pass the litmus test: proving that they do not split.
Back. Renfe already has the S106 trains affected by the cracks suffered in the Madrid-Barcelona corridor while providing AVLO service. That is what the company itself has confirmed to us, which, when asked by Xataka has confirmed that the replacement of the bogies has now “been successfully completed”.
The trains have returned three months after being sent for repairs to the railway company’s facilities. They have done so after having completely replaced the affected bogies. Instead of being repaired, they have been completely changed to avoid greater evils.
What happened? At the end of July, Renfe began to receive signals that something was wrong with its AVRIL trains that provided the AVLO service (Renfe’s low cost line) on the Madrid-Barcelona route. Those signs were, directly, cracks in trains. Although first there was talk of one train, we finally know that there were five that ended up affected by cracks of different magnitudes.
After a tug of war between The Economist (which advanced the news) and the company itselfRenfe ended up suspending the sale of AVLO tickets on the Madrid-Barcelona route and ended up redistributing the AVE service to customers. Now the company recovers those affected trains but it does not seem that Madrid-Barcelona will be their destination.
Whose fault is it? It is one of the great unknowns. Renfe has pointed out Talgo as the culprit of the cracks, reminding him that the trains are under warranty and that, therefore, they were not going to pay for the repairs. Talgo, for its part, blames Adifensuring that the maintenance of the line is insufficient and that this has caused excessive vibrations that have led to the famous cracks.
Everything indicates that the problem is in the section between Madrid and Calatayud. In fact, the company even considered that it would continue operating with its AVLO service in the corridor but at a reduced speed which, it is assumed, did not generate the vibrations and therefore should not have an impact on structural damage to the train. Ultimately, this option was discarded.
Fire test. The return of the affected AVRIL trains is a litmus test for Renfe… but above all for Talgo. And it is that Renfe has already been looking for trains in Germany to look for an alternative to the S106, known as AVRIL, which only Talgo manufactures. Giving a good image with a unique train in the world is essential to a company that is in financial trouble.
The S106 trains were to be a leap forward for the company. They are the only ones who, given the railway peculiarities of Spainthey can “jump” from Iberian gauge to international gauge. For Renfe they are key because this allows them to position themselves ahead of Ouigo and Iryo facing a future opening to competition in the Galician corridor. However, the S106 have arrived late and They have garnered numerous bad reviews.
And where are they going? It is another of the doubts that remain to be cleared up. According to Alberto Puivecinoresponsible for infrastructure and mobility at CCOO in Catalonia, it is possible that these trains will be used for AVANT (medium distance high speed) services in the region. A line that joins Lleida, Tarragona, Barcelona, Girona and Figueres. The information was made public after a meeting between CCOO and the Generalitat of Catalonia.
In Xataka We have asked Renfe in this regard but they assure that “the service that the currently immobilized units 106 will provide has not yet been determined. In any case, wherever they are finally going to operate they will do so with full safety guarantees.”
For now, the fate of these units remains to be revealed. What we do know is that it is a litmus test for Talgo that must demonstrate that its S106 trains are once again reliable and, above all, are safe enough.
Photo | Miguel
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