report - new high-speed trainweb.talgoamerica.com/images/news/viatalgo.pdf · patentes talgo for an...

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Vía Libre • December 2016 1

Renfe Viajeros has awarded Talgo the tender for the sup-ply and maintenance over 30 years of fifteen high-speed trains at a cost of €22.5 million for each composition and a maintenance cost of €2.49 per kilometre travelled.

This involves a total amount of €786.47 million, which represents a 28% reduction on the tender price and includes entire lifecycle, with secondary mainte-nance activities being reserved for Renfe Integria work-shops.

The trains will make it possible to cope with grow-ing demand for high-speed services, which has increased by 60% since 2013, as well as the new lines currently under construction that will expand the network in the coming years and also the process of Passenger service liberaliza-tion that will entail new demands for operators from 2020.

The trains

The new Avril trains will be twelve car units, three of them being business class, eight tourist class cars and a cafeteria car. They will be tri-voltage - 25 kV 50 Hz AC, 3 kV DC and 1.5 kV DC - and will be equipped with ERTMS

and Asfa Digital signalling systems, with ten of them having the French TVM signalling system. The trains will be able to run at a maximum speed of 330 km/h.

The new Avril (expected to be classified as Renfe Class 106 or Renfe Class 122) will be interoperable, light-weight units - the lightest on the market with 30% less mass than a standard train - and 25% more energy-effi-cient than the previous high-speed series.

Report - New high-speed train

On 28 November the Minister of Pub-

lic Works, Íñigo de la Serna, officially an-

nounced the award of a tender for the

supply of fifteen new high-speed trains to

Patentes Talgo for an overall price, includ-

ing maintenance for thirty years, of €786.5

million.

Avril by Talgo:Renfe’s new high-speed, variable gauge train

This report is the translation into English of an offprint of issue 613 of Vía Libre magazine (December 2016).Vía Libre is the leading magazine for the Spanish railway industry, issued monthly since 1964 and published by the Spanish Railways Foundation.Data updated as of 8 December 2016

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2 Vía Libre • December 2016

Talgo assesses its reliability at around 1.25 million kilometres without incidents, well above the 800,000 kilometres demanded in the tender, and availability at 99.09 percent.


MaintenanceEnergyDepreciationFinancialsOperating Pers.TOTALDifference (%)Source: Compiled by author. Approximate dataRemarks: The price of the new train without considering French signalling in 10 trains, and if 30 trains are bought

Approximate comparison between the operating costs related to HS rolling stock from the previous generation and those of the new train

Euros/train-km3.311.731.440.980.658.11

Eurocent/seat-km0.8990.4700.3910.2660.1762.202

Euros/train-km2.491.521.190.810.656.66-17.8

Eurocent/seat-km0.4790.2910.2290.1560.1251.279-41.9

102/112 and 103 series average New 2016 Tender train

The new Talgo Avril trains for Renfe will be twelve car units, three of them being business class, eight tourist class and a cafeteria car. They

have a traction unit at each end.

Business class seats are arranged in rows of two-plus-two, and the seats, ergonomic and upholstered in

leather, include individual flat video screens on the backrests and retractable ones on the tables.

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The composition would have two traction units, a business end car with 44 seats, another business car with 36 seats, an accessible business car with 25 seats (2 PRM seats), a cafeteria car, four tourist cars with 49 seats each, three tourist cars with 54 seats and an end tourist car with 58 seats.

Inside it can hold 521 passengers and two spac-es for wheelchairs in a typical composition with 80% of seats in tourist class and the remaining 20 in business class. Tourist class seats are arranged in rows of two-plus-three, on either side of the aisle, so that the twelve-car composition can have as many as 550 seats if you opt for a composition with only tourist class cars. Ergonomic and leather upholstered seats include individual flat vid-eo screens on the backrests.

The cars will offer WiFi, new lighting, adjustable seats throughout the train in the running direction and

new spaces to place and keep luggage, even under the seats, up to 206 litres per seat. Tractions units will also have a luggage van for groups and charters.

The cafeteria car will have a new bar adapted to people with reduced mobility and which will also have maximum accessibility from the platform. The cars can also be divided by areas, their interiors being adaptable to different functions - meeting room, nursery, exhibi-tion hall -, thanks to panels and mobile screens, offering great versatility to the operator.

Price and efficiency

The new Avril Renfe trains will be the cheapest and most efficient in the fleet and will become a useful tool for Renfe’s cost control. In addition, this new rolling stock will strengthen Renfe’s possibilities of competing in foreign markets, as well as Spain’s leadership in the high-speed segment.

These trains are not designed for specific lines in particular, being used to rearrange the fleet as they are added, both on existing lines and to meet new ones that are placed into service.

Train typeCompositionTrack gaugeElectrification voltageMaximum speedLengthCont. rim power (at 25 kV / 3 kV / 1.5 kV)Max. regenerative / rheostatic brake powerDead weightWorking mass / Operating mass / Normal / exceptional loadTrack control systemsCommunication systemsSeatsSeating arrangementToiletsDoors per side

Very high-speed and high-capacity electric articulated trainTraction unit + 12 articulated trailer cars + Traction unitStandard (1,435) or Dual (1,435 + 1,668)25 kv 50 Hz AC + 3kV/1.5kV DC330 km/h200 m8,000 kW / 6,500 kW / 4,300 kW8,000 kW + 5,560 kW320.3 t323.4 t / 357.5 t / 366.5 t / 387 tETCS N2; LZB (such as STM); Asfa D. (On 10 trains: TVM 430, KVB, RPS)GSM-R + Train-Ground communication521: 105 Business (including 2PRM) + 416 Tourist2+2 in Business; 3+2 in Tourist. All adjustable in running direction 11 (10 measuring 1.3 m2) and 1 PRM 10 (1 per intermediate car)

Basic features of the new trains

2 traction units. Each with a cab and 2 bogies with 2 driving axles1 Business class end trailer car with 44 seats (2+2)1 Business class trailer car with 36 seats (2+2)1 Business class trailer car, 25 seats (including 2 PRM) (2+2)1 cafeteria trailer car4 tourist class trailer cars with 49 seats each3 tourist class trailer cars with 54 seats each1 tourist class end trailer car with 58 seats

The vehicles, one by one

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The tender: Talgo wins tecnnical and financial evaluationsOn 10 November 2015, the Board of Directors of Renfe Viajeros approved Talgo’s bid in this tender for the acqui-sition of up to thirty new high-speed and high-capacity trains and their maintenance for a minimum period of thirty years with the option to be extended for another ten years.

The initial bidding price set by Renfe for the first block of 15 trains, including their maintenance for 40 years was of €1,401 million, while both blocks (15+15 trains) plus 40-years of maintenance amounted to €2,642 million.

Fifteen trains have been bought initially along with their maintenance during three full decades, although Renfe could acquire 15 additional units in three different 5-unit tranches in the following 4 years.

In a public event Renfe announced the technical and fi-nancial evaluation of the seven bids that were finally sub-mitted in the tender, one from CAF and two from Alstom, Siemens and Talgo.

In the technical section each of the bids could obtain a maximum of 35 points and the Talgo proposals were the ones that obtained the highest scores, followed by the two from Alstom, the one from CAF and, finally, the two from

Siemens.

In order to assess the financial bids, with which tenderers could obtain a maximum of 65 points, the price of fifteen trains was analysed, the installation of French TVM signalling equipment in ten of them, and the cost of homologation in France.

Their maintenance over thirty years was also assessed, with a discount rate of 6%, repairs, cleaning and the number of seats included, plus a correction factor of 0.7 points for use. In addition, for the first time in a tender of this type, energy consumption over thirty years was assessed.

With all these parameters, a financial value was obtained, with a pre-established formula that is adjust-ed to the price per seat of each train in its entire useful life. That figure was the financial value expressed in eu-ros, which is used to calculate the number of points over 65 that each of the bids submitted would obtain.

This award system, with public opening of ten-ders, common in large international tenders was used for the first time at Renfe. It was also a new feature that

the tender evaluated the cost of the whole life cycle of the trains by introducing factors such as consumption, capacity and use or availability.



Bid AlternativeAlstom 25.145 24.517CAF 22.616 -Patentes Talgo 28.114 29.616Siemens 21.840 21.572

Technical evaluation

Alstom Alstom CAF Talgo Talgo Siemens Siemens Alternative Alternative AlternativePrice (total 15 trains) (MEUR) 493.50 470.72 321.29 337.12 337.50 469.95 469.95Price per train (MEUR) 32.9 31.38 21.42 22.47 22.5 31.33 31.33Maint. (total 15 trains, 30 years) (MEUR) 602.35 602.35 549.55 448.97 448.97 601.08 601.08Maint. for each train (Euros/train-km) 3.346 3.346 3.053 2.494 2.494 3.339 3.339 Total train purchase and Maint. (MEUR) 1,095.85 1,073.07 870.84 786.09 786.50 1,071.03 1,071.03Declared energy consumption (kWh/km) 13.40 13.45 15.77 13.83 13.75 12.85 12.85Number of seats 608 650 487 521 521 516 548Availability in % 98 98 91.15 99.09 99.09 94 94Warranty in years 5 5 5 5 5 3 3Financial value (Euros/seat in useful life) 166,821 156,542 158,730 137,768 137,693 183,350 176,261

Financial evaluation

Bid AlternativeAlstom 78.8 81.3CAF 79 -Patentes Talgo 93.1 94.4Siemens 70.7 72.3

Total evaluation (technical and financial)

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The forecasts point to the incorporation of the first ten units in thirty-eight months. The contract will be financed with Renfe Viajeros’ own resources, with-out resorting to borrowing, and by revenues generat-ed by the activity itself.

The manufacture of the trains will have an effect on economic activity and the creation of employment, calculated at a thousand jobs during the five years of manufacture, and one hundred jobs, as an annual aver-age, in maintenance years.

Maintenance throughout useful life

For the first time the maintenance contract covers the entire lifecycle of the trains acquired, in order to ensure that the winning bid guarantees the lowest operating costs for Renfe during no less than three decades.

Renfe has reserved secondary maintenance and main components repair activities for its own subsidiary. Those amount to around a 30% of the total maintenance the new fleet will need.

For Renfe this work represents about 30% of the total maintenance that the new fleet will need and it will make it possible to preserve know-how and technology transfer of the rolling stock with-in the Renfe Group, in addition to controlling the costs for Renfe Viajeros.

In Avril trains, accessibility and comfort for people with reduced mobility is guaranteed, both when

accessing the car and once inside.

The floor height is 760 mm throughout the train, which allows all passengers to enter at the same height as the platform, thus

reducing dwelling times.

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Series100R100F102112103104114130730120120.05121105106 ó 122

Series100R100F102112103104114130730120120.05121105106 ó 122



Series100R100F102112103104114130730120120.05121105106 ó 122

Spain’s high-speed rail fleet in 2016

Year commissioned1992 (R2007)

20132004200920072004200920072012200620092009

¿2017?¿2019?

Units1410163026201345151216291

15+15

Track gauge (mm)1,4351,4351,4351,4351,4351,4351,435

1,435 / 1,6681,435 / 1,6681,435 / 1,6681,435 / 1,6681,435 / 1,668

1,4351,435 / 1,668

Electrification voltage25 kV 50 Hz / 3 kV

25 kV 50 Hz / 1.5 kV25 kV 50 Hz25 kV 50 Hz25 kV 50 Hz25 kV 50 Hz25 kV 50 Hz

25 kV 50 Hz / 3 kV25 kV 50 Hz / 3 kV + diesel

25 kV 50 Hz / 3 kV25 kV 50 Hz / 3 kV25 kV 50 Hz / 3 kV

15-25 kV 50 / 1.5-3 kV25 kV 50 Hz / 3 kV / 1.5 kV

ClassTourist / BusinessTourist / Business

Tourist / Business / ClubTourist / Business

Tourist / Business / ClubTourist / Business

TouristTourist / BusinessTourist / BusinessTourist / BusinessTourist / Business

TouristTourist / BusinessTourist / Business

P/T + PRM seats119/ 211 + 1108/212 + 1121/195 +2 71/292 + 2 141/164 / 2 31/205 + 1

0/236+262 / 263 +244/216 + 281/156 + 181/156 + 10/281 + 1

170 (Tourist) / 45 (Business) / 1 PRM104/415 + 2

Traction typeConcentratedConcentratedConcentratedConcentrated

DistributedDistributedDistributed

ConcentratedConcentrated (electric + diesel)

DistributedDistributedDistributedDistributed

Concentrated

ArticulatedYesYes

Yes / (wheelsets)Yes / (wheelsets)

NoNoNo

Yes / (wheelsets)Yes / (wheelsets)

NoNoNoNoYes

Length(m)200.15200.15

200200200

107.9107.9

184.15186

107.36107.36107.36103.36

200

Empty weight (t)392.6392.6329

329.2425

221.5228.8312354233233

251.4?

320.3

Maximum speed (km/h)300220330330350250250250

250-280 (1,435 mm) 220 (1,668 mm) / 180 (diesel)250250250320330

No. of axles2626212132161620221616161621

Signalling systemsASFA D. 200 / LZB / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2

ASFA / LZB / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2ASFA D. 200 / LZB / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2ASFA D. 200 / LZB / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2

ASFA 200 / LZB / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2ASFA / LZB / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2ASFA / LZB / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2

ASFA D. 200 / LZB / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2ASFA D. 200 / LZB / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2

ASFA D. 200 / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2ASFA D. 200 / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2 / LZB INDEPENDENT

ASFA D. 200 / ETCS 1 / ETCS 2ASFA D. 200 / LZB / ETCS 2

ASFA / ETCS 1 y 2 TVM

Power points (Business/Tourist)Yes / YesYes / Yes

SYes/ No (planned for 2017)Yes / YesYes / Yes

YesYes

Yes / Yes (on some trains, rest planned for 2017)No / No (planned for 2017)

Yes / YesYes / YesYes / YesNo / NoYes / Yes

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A feature of the Avril trains is the numerous spaces provided for luggage, both in the seating

area and in compartments specifically created for them.

Ideas and details• Platform concept: versatility both in the interior layout and the exterior image; in the traction and brake systems (to adapt to the maximum speed required); and in wheel components: inter-changeability of fixed track-gauge / variable track-gauge wheel-sets, both ready to be used at a commercial speed of 330 km/h.

• Toilets. The train has 11 toilets: 10 standard type ones with a useful area of 1.33 m2 between walls, much larger than those on current trains, and a bigger size accessible toilet. The accessible toilet, along with two other in Tourist class will have baby chang-ing tables.

• Safety: The safety of the passengers has been ensured as far as possible: in boarding the train thanks to its accessibility; in the event of derailment since it is an articulated train; in the event of a crash (designed to obtain reduced deceleration levels and with requirements for seats and tables such as restraint systems), and luggage rack with retention systems. The train meets the most up-to-date standards to improve fire resistance.

• Designed to protect the environment: it is the lightest train and the one with least axles (for its length) on the market, along with its aerodynamic design to minimize fuel consumption. De-signed to ensure maximum recyclability of Talgo trains. In busi-ness class the two-plus-two seat configuration also offers greater capacity than on conventional trains.

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OOfficially presented at Innotrans 2012, it incorporates the Talgo concepts of accessibility, energy efficiency, aerodynamics and lightweight materials, to offer the operator reduced operating costs and low energy con-sumption per passenger and per kilometre.In 2016, the Talgo Avril completed its certification tests according to the Technical Specification for Interopera-

bility (TSI) for standard or broad track-gauges in its 2008 edition and with an approved assessment by the Certi-fication body.The certification speed is 330 km/h, and its dynamic be-haviour has been succesfully tested at 363 km/h, a 10% increase of the homologation speed.

In September 2008 Talgo unveiled its

Avril project, its new very high-speed,

high-capacity train, conceived as a flex-

ible platform, adaptable to fixed-gauge

(1,435, 1,520 and 1,668 millimetres) and

variable-gauge versions. With four pos-

sible electric supply voltages and hy-

brid traction capabilities, variable track-

gauge and with a flexible composition

by modifying the number of cars and

maintaining the performance.

Avril, a one decade project



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Pre-series unit

To check the dynamic behaviour, the train was equipped with a bogie and instrumented wheelsets, preparing a car like a laboratory to process signals com-

ing from both the wheelsets and the bodies. The Avril platform pre-series train, developed

and built by Talgo, began its movements separately on 3 April 2014, since when, until completing the tests on 10

Wider body, greater capacityThe Avril also offers a wide bodysheel, with an inner measurement of 3,100 millimetres, which is 250 mm more than other trains. This width is possible thanks to the reduced length of the body, which reduces and improves its dynamic loading gauge, and due to the fact the train is equipped with an automatic device that moves the body outwards on curves.

The Avril cars, wide and short, fit in the conventional gauges in spite of their greater width, meaning that in tourist class there are five seats per row, in a two-plus-three configuration, with the same space per passenger as in other trains, thus increasing the total capacity without impairing the level of comfort.

The distance between the armrests, the space available for the knees, the minimum aisle width of 450/550 mm and the rest of the comfort parameters do not differ from those featutured in other very high-speed trains pre-viosuly developed by Talgo. In business class, the two-plus-two seat configuration also offers greater capacity than a conventional train.

This means that Avril trains, two hundred metres long, have enough room for nearly six hundred seats with the consequent reduction in costs related to acquisition, energy consumption per seat and, lastly, operation.

It has a standard interoperable floor height of 760 millimetres, which increases the capacity of the train to over six hundred passengers and reduces the operating costs per passenger.

In addition, in Avril cars the tare weight has been reduced by 15% to harmonise the greater passenger capacity with the maximum weight restrictions per axle in the UIC regulations. The structure of the body, seats and light components on the floor, luggage rack, tables, anchorages, interior linings or wiring have made this possible.

The cafeteria car will have a new bar adapted to people with reduced mobility and will also

have maximum accessibility from the platform.

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10 Vía Libre • December • 2016

May 2016, it has performed numerous track tests for ad-justment and validation, as well as certification accord-ing to the Technical Specification for Interoperability.

During more than two years of testing it has run on the Madrid-Seville, Madrid-Barcelona, Madrid-Valen-cia and Albacete-Alicante high-speed lines.


Articulated and active steering

The Avril is a fully articulated train, with the independent guided wheel technology of the Talgo trains. The driv-ing axles are fitted on two bogies on the traction units, and these units guide the next car.

The Avril is equipped with a new generation of bogies, wheelsets and suspension systems with electronic lev-elling that, with a 30% reduction in weight and an improvement in its dynamic characteristics, could reach 380 km/h with the maximum level of comfort.

An active independent wheel guidance system will detect the entry into the curve and define the position of the wheel on the rail, to improve steering and reduce the lateral slip of the wheels on the rail, avoiding the friction of the flange and increasing their useful life.

The guided wheel provides additional weight reduction and considerable savings in terms of wheel wear main-tenance costs due to the lower number of axles in the composition. And in addition, a reduction of the vibrations transmitted to the passenger that results in greater comfort in running.

The Avril cars, wide and short, allow five seats per row in the tourist class, which significantly increases the capacity without impairing the

level of comfort.

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In the first stage the train design was assessed, subsequently proceeding to static tests and checks be-fore going out on the main line for dynamic tests. The first main line test was on 15 August 2014 and the train reached 140 km/h.

During this certification period 102 train features required in the Technical Specification for Interoper-ability relating to the rolling stock sub-system on the trans-European high-speed rail system, of 21 February 2008, were assessed.

In 2016 Talgo Avril completed its certification tests according to the Technical Specification for

Interoperability (TSI 2008).

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12 Vía Libre • December • 2016

Tests

The first of the numerous tests carried out were internal to adjust and validate the different subsystems of the train, and later in the presence of the NOBO Certification body.

In this way, static tests were carried out to check gauge, static load per axle, static brake protocol, parking brake on maximum uphill sections, stationary and start-up noise, heating and air conditioning in the driver’s cab and fire detection and resistance.

At low speed, tests were per-formed on drag and towing, on mini-mum radius curves and lighting, tests prior to the dynamic pantograph in-teraction tests: catenary, braking with tare weight, loaded and in degraded conditions, as well as braking with low adhesion (an-ti-slip system).

Traction features, electromagnetic interference and the power factor were also tested, as well as the aerodynamic conditions of the train outside and pres-sure variation in tunnels, and the dynamic behaviour

with both tare weight and loaded at 363 km/h and in degraded conditions at 330 km/h.

In total, 181 runs were carried out on main line track and 37 on test track at La Sagra, reaching a max-imum sustained speed of 363 km/h on the Madrid-Bar-celona line.


Variable gauge at 330 km/hDuring its homologation tests that were completed this year, the Avril’s wheelsets with variable gauge system were successfully tested at 350 km/h, which would mean having variable gauge trains with all the features and benefits of an AVE.

The pre-series train on the Avril platform was fitted with variable gauge wheelsets with variable track-gauge were successfully tested at a speed of 350 km/h. This feature is expected to give Renfe a fleet of very high-speed trains capable also to run on conventional lines.

Until 2000, Renfe variable track-gauge fleet was composed only bu loco-hauled trains capable of running at 200 km/h, and which took about fifteen minutes to change gauge.

The next generation of variable track-gauge trains was purchased starting in 2003 and included Renfe Class 130, 730, 120 and 121, most of them marketed under the commercial brand Alvia and capable to adapt their wheels to different trac-gauges but limited by designed to a maximum speed of 250 km/h.

Avril trains equipped with variable gauge wheelsets will be well-suited for an scenario in which standard gauge lines (1,435 mm) are spreading and this will allow travel time to be reduced on increasingly long journeys on the high-speed network, before completing the trip on the conventional network.

In addition, the existence of variable gauge trains running at over 300 km/h will make it possible to bring for-ward the effects of the arrival of high-speed, since they do not require the standard gauge line to be finished until the destination station.

Avril would therefore render unnecessary to install a third rail on Iberian track-gauge sections, or to convert them to standard track-gauge in order to get true very high-speed trains reaching destinations which are still only connected to the existing conventional network.

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ariab

le ga

uge ●

330 k

m /h

● 52

1 sea

ts ●

25, 3

and 1

.5 kV

● 20

0 m ●

8,00

0 kW

● 32

0.3 t


V

ariab

le ga

uge ●

330 k

m /h

● 52

1 sea

ts ●

25, 3

and 1

.5 kV

● 20

0 m ●

8,00

0 kW

● 32

0.3 t

The Avril has covered more than 76,000 kilo-metres, most of them at speeds equal to or greater than 300 km/h, it has performed 890 measurement test runs and more than 320 brake applications, using the differ-ent types of brake it is equipped with - service, auxiliary, urgency, emergency, and in degraded conditions.

The train has travelled in both normal condi-tions and forced degraded conditions, including air suspension failure, damper failure, partial failure of brake system, etc.

InformatIon prepared by

Ángel rodríguez

The distance between the armrests, the space available for the knees, the width of the aisle and the rest of the dimensions which affect passenger

comfort in Avril do not differ from those featured on other very high-speed trains

manufactured by Talgo.



Var

iable

gaug

e ● 33

0 km

/h ●

521 s

eats

● 25

, 3 an

d 1.5

kV ●

200 m

● 8,

000 k

W ●

320.3

t

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