FRANCE: Talgo’s planned €350 million deal to supply up to ten Avril high-speed trains to French private operator Le Train has been thrown into doubt, according to Spanish media, following the decision from Renfe to halt its planned high-speed expansion into France. The agreement had depended on the homologation of the Basque manufacturer’s Avril trains for the French network, a process now left without a clear pathway.
Earlier this year, Spanish state-backed operator Renfe indefinitely postponed its entry into the French high-speed market. Citing “accumulated difficulties” in certifying its troubled Talgo Avril trains, and the lack of a reliable timetable for launching operations, the rail company repeatedly accused the French infrastructure manager, SNCF Réseau, of frustrating the process to limit its ability to compete with the state-backed incumbent’s own high-speed arm on its home market.
However, Renfe’s difficulties do appear to have centred primarily on its troubled Talgo-built high-speed trains and their homologation. Despite testing starting in France in 2022 — it took roughly two years for Paris to certify Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa trains — the Spanish rolling stock has still not been approved for French lines four years later. That in turn pushed the Spanish operator’s expected launch window back from 2024 to 2029, and eventually, the company to step back from its French plans.
But the decision to pull the plug also means Renfe bringing its Talgo trains back to Spain, which in turn, may lead to another Spanish casualty in the French market: Renfe’s withdrawal removes the main route through which Talgo’s Avril platform was expected to gain approval in France. And that has put a prospective €350 million deal between the Basque manufacturer and Le Train at risk.
Testing at an end with no conclusion
Le Train, which is aiming to launch high-speed services in western France, signed a preliminary agreement with Talgo in 2023 for up to ten Avril units. According to El Economista, that deal was explicitly contingent on the trains being homologated in France, a process that was meant to be unlocked by Renfe’s planned deployment of the rolling stock on the Lyon–Paris corridor, but has now been indefinitely halted.
El Economista reports that the only Avril unit undergoing homologation testing in France is set to be recalled to Spain so it can be used in domestic service. Of the 30 Avril trains ordered by Renfe, 27 are already in operation, with the remaining units either being prepared for coupled operation or, in this case, reassigned from testing duties.
If the train is withdrawn, it would remove the only vehicle currently being used for certification on the French network, and without an active unit in France, there is no clear mechanism to continue homologation in the short term, spelling trouble for the Talgo-Le Train deal. Sources at Talgo told El Economista that despite the challenge, the manufacturer would “maintain its agreement with Le Train and we will work together to do everything in our power and manage the necessary processes.”