The breakdown suffered by the Avril trains further complicates Renfe’s relationship with Talgo. The president of the public company, Raul Blancohas communicated that it is not ruled out to hold the manufacturer accountable for the failure suffered that disabled all the 106 series convoys on January 1.
This was stated during a press conference at the Department of Territory of the Catalan Generalitat to present a plan for urgent measures in Rodalies, as reported by Ep. Tensions due to the incidents had eased in recent weeks thanks to the better functioning of the machines, but this new breakdown has intensified tensions.
Blanco has estimated the cost to Renfe due to the computer failure on the Talgo trains at one million euros. As stated by the aforementioned agency, regarding the global cost of the incident, between the canceled, modified or returned tickets and the material and equipment mobilized, the leader has rounded up the impact for the company to one million euros, a “major” impact.
Taking into account this “important” impact on operations, since it forced the cancellation of 28 routes with an impact on more than 14,000 passengers, Renfe did not want to rule out demanding liability from the manufacturer for the damages caused. An approach that was already made this past summer when the barrage of incidents began in these newly released convoys. Although Blanco has indicated that they are not now at the point of demanding a penalty from Talgo, the manager has stressed that they will study the situation. “The incident has been resolved and we will study within the framework of the complex and difficult relationship we have with Talgo if this adds any more element to the penalties it already has,” he said.
«On January 1 they had to mobilize, move throughout Spain and solve the mobility of travelers, which for us is always the most important thing. Yesterday all mobility was guaranteed, despite not having 23 trains, and today mobility is guaranteed because these 23 trains are already running,” he added about the contingency plan that they had to activate.
As Talgo explained in a statement, on the morning of January 2 the incident was already resolved. According to the information that the manufacturer has received from the system supplier, Ingeteam, “the problem with said equipment was related to the change of year.” “After the incident with the start of the day was detected yesterday, Talgo began to work with the Ingeteam teams, and in collaboration with Renfe and Tarvia, to solve the communication problem with the battery chargers,” they added.
As it is, relations between Renfe and Talgo are not going through their best moment precisely because of these Avril trains. On the one hand, due to the delay in its delivery; on the other hand, due to the recurring incidents they have registered since their launch. This breakdown has added another point of tension to that relationship, with fines and threats of fines involved.
The public company had planned to impose a 166 million penalty on Talgo for delays in the delivery of these convoy models, of which 116 million have already been notified, the first and largest part, although the manufacturer is reluctant to pay.
Thus, according to the contract signed between Renfe and Talgo, the trains should have been delivered in January 2021 to enter service in the summer of that year and subsequently, after requested modifications, the date was postponed to July 2022. Finally, the delivery began in April 2024 and another seven of the 30 total trains still have to be delivered today. These delays have generated much of the tensions.
But incidents, like this last one, are another point of friction. The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, threatened in the summer with more claims for the breakdowns suffered by the new convoys in their first months of entry into operation. Added to this is now this other computer failure, which could lead to a greater demand for responsibilities.
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