{"id":407528,"date":"2025-09-08T10:04:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T10:04:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/407528\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T10:04:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T10:04:12","slug":"a-critical-two-years-spains-high-speed-rail-crisis-prompts-puente-to-demand-new-procurement-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/407528\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A critical two years\u2019: Spain\u2019s high-speed rail crisis prompts Puente to demand new procurement plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spain\u2019s Transport Minister \u00d3scar Puente has warned that Renfe\u2019s \u2018obsolete\u2019 high-speed fleet, combined with the problems plaguing the new Talgo Avril trains, will bring two difficult years of incidents. The long-term solution, he says, is a shift to regular train purchases instead of 15-year-long gaps followed by bulk orders.
<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking before the Transport Commission in Congress last week, Spain\u2019s Minister of Transport, \u00d3scar Puente, warned that the country\u2019s rail network was in for a rocky ride in the years to come due to the state of Renfe\u2019s high-speed fleet. He said that Renfe\u2019s 125-strong AVE trains were reaching the end of their life and that Talgo\u2019s new Avril units, meant to replenish the fleet, were failing to deliver.<\/p>\n

He went on to tell MPs that he anticipates \u201ca critical two years\u201d<\/a> of incidents, urging a shift to periodic fleet acquisitions to avoid breakdowns clustering at the end of each cycle: \u201cWe can\u2019t go 15 years without purchasing trains and then suddenly order 400.\u201d<\/p>\n

Puente\u2019s high-speed warning<\/p>\n

In Congress, Puente was blunt about Renfe\u2019s vulnerabilities. \u201cThe deterioration of a large portion of Renfe\u2019s high-speed fleet has become one of the clearest weaknesses of the Spanish railway system,\u201d he said. The AVE units entered service between the 1990s and early 2000s, and are now approaching the end of their working lives. At the same time, the new Talgo Avril fleet, contracted in 2016 and delivered nearly two years late, is generating headlines for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n

The minister stressed that bulk procurement has created a cliff edge for Renfe. \u201cWe need to make periodic purchases to anticipate rolling stock obsolescence and prevent the entire fleet from approaching the end of its life cycle at once.\u201d He underlined the urgency of the moment by pointing to his trip to D\u00fcsseldorf this week, where he met Siemens executives \u201cto obtain railway equipment as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Another week of delays<\/p>\n

The warning of disruption and future problems proved prescient: Puente\u2019s appearance in front of Congress coincided with yet another serious breakdown on Spain\u2019s rail network. On Thursday, Adif\u2019s computer servers failed,<\/a> paralysing high-speed operations to and from Madrid for hours. Departure screens at Chamart\u00edn and Atocha went dark, while trains on the southern and northwestern corridors were halted mid-journey for up to half an hour. Although emergency systems were activated and traffic gradually resumed, thousands of passengers faced cancellations and long waits.<\/p>\n

\"RenfeRenfe is having ever more problems with its Avril trains. \u00a9 Talgo<\/p>\n

This was not a failure linked to Renfe\u2019s ageing fleet, but to Adif\u2019s infrastructure systems. It is perhaps no surprise that Puente has been keen to focus attention on rolling stock, an area where his government can blame previous administrations for long gaps in procurement. Yet train disruptions are fast becoming a political liability in Spain, with the opposition seizing on every incident to portray the railways as descending into chaos and to target a transport ministry already under pressure.<\/p>\n

\u2018A critical two years\u2019<\/p>\n

The disruption last week capped a summer of high-profile meltdowns that have left passengers increasingly sceptical about the reliability of Spain\u2019s trains. Services have been halted en masse by signalling failures, passengers have been evacuated after onboard fires, and breakdowns have repeatedly stranded travellers in tunnels or out on the open track.<\/p>\n

Of the more than 71,000 medium- and long-distance journeys so far in 2025, only 68.2% arrived on time. More than 11,500 trains failed to get to their destination within 15 minutes of schedule, while nearly 6,000 were delayed by 15\u201330 minutes. And the average delay across all services has risen to 6.2 minutes, with July peaking at just over 10 minutes.<\/p>\n

Puente went on to admit that Spain faces \u201ca critical two years\u201d as old and new fleets must coexist. He defended the railway\u2019s performance in the face of growing demand, insisting that \u201conly in Switzerland are trains more punctual than in Spain.\u201d But he acknowledged rising disruption: incidents linked to external factors such as fires and cable thefts have climbed from 7% last summer to 23% this year. Far from all of this is down to problems with Renfe\u2019s rolling stock. However, the failure of Renfe\u2019s new Talgo Avril trains to live up to expectations has clearly left a big hole in the near future of Spain\u2019s high-speed network.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Talgo Avril under fire<\/p>\n

Indeed, today Renfe will withdraw the five Avlo-branded Avrils from the Madrid\u2013Barcelona corridor<\/a> after cracks were found in bogies and repeated complaints of vibrations and abnormal noise at high speed. The decision removes Spain\u2019s flagship next-generation train from its busiest line, where Avlo had built a 12% market share.<\/p>\n

Puente described the withdrawal as a \u201cnecessary measure,\u201d but admitted it leaves Renfe scrambling for alternatives. In Congress, he reminded MPs that \u201cnew trains haven\u2019t been added to the local rail network since 2008, and none have been added to the medium and long-distance lines since 2010\u2026 until the failed Avril trains arrived.\u201d He argued it is normal for new fleets to suffer \u201cproblems at the beginning of their operation,\u201d but conceded that reliability issues will continue to affect passengers. For Puente, the answer could only be more procurement, spread across time: \u201cIf we don\u2019t renew the fleet, we won\u2019t be able to improve the service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Puente\u2019s call may seem natural given Spain\u2019s current problems, but it marks a break with the traditional way most European countries buy trains: very large, standardised orders that secure economies of scale. Spain itself followed that model, going more than a decade without purchases before ordering nearly 400 units in one go. Staggered procurement may avoid such cliff edges, but it does raise questions about cost, standardisation, and supplier willingness to negotiate smaller batches.<\/p>\n

For now, Renfe must juggle an ageing fleet with an unreliable new one, and while Puente may hope a quick Siemens deal offers political cover, a long-term shift in procurement will not ease the immediate strain on Spain\u2019s high-speed network.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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