Renfe places out to tender the acquisition of 30 high-speed trains for as much as 4,145 million euros | Companies | EUROtoday

Renfe has formally began the bidding course of for the acquisition of 30 new high-speed trains with the capability to journey at 350 kilometers per hour. The preliminary funding of the contract quantities to 1,650 million euros (taxes included), based on the specs revealed on the State contracting platform. The tender contains an enlargement possibility to amass 10 extra items, which might increase the full quantity of the order to 2,150 million euros. However, the general estimated worth of the contract is 4,145 million euros, a determine that features the upkeep of the convoys throughout their helpful life, the doable request for added sequence and different related working prices.

Interested corporations have till April 21 to current their technical and financial proposals. The contract execution interval has been set at 78 months (six and a half years). Manufacturers comparable to Alstom, Siemens and Hitachi seem as the principle opponents to qualify for this contract.

The goal of this operation, which the corporate introduced on March 26, is the alternative of the oldest items within the high-speed fleet. In explicit, Renfe plans to interchange the Series 100 trains manufactured by Alstom, which have operated for the reason that inauguration of the Madrid-Seville line in 1992. Currently, the operator maintains 22 of those items in service, relationship again 33 years.

Due to the excessive workload within the world railway trade, Renfe has prioritized speedy manufacturing deadlines. The supply schedule stipulates that the primary 5 items have to be prepared earlier than month 40 (three years and 4 months). Once the availability has began, the profitable bidder should ship a practice each month and a half till your entire fleet is accomplished earlier than month 78.

The new trains will need to have a minimal capability of 450 seats distributed in two lessons. Likewise, the specs require that the items be totally accessible for folks with lowered mobility and have areas designated for a cafeteria.

With this funding, the state operator seeks to modernize its response capability to the anticipated development in demand in high-speed and medium-distance corridors (Avant). The urgency to resume the rolling inventory coincides with a interval of latest technical and operational incidents on the community. The most severe was the one which occurred on January 18, with the collision of two convoys on the Madrid-Seville line in Adamuz, leaving 46 fatalities, on the planet’s largest high-speed practice accident.

Renfe administration has indicated that exterior components, comparable to instability within the Middle East, have launched uncertainty within the prices of uncooked supplies and industrial elements. This situation will drive bidders to regulate their value projections for the subsequent six years. While Siemens and Hitachi begin with already consolidated fashions such because the Velaro Novo and the ETR 1000, the Spanish firm Talgo is engaged on a brand new technical platform for future competitions, specializing in provides past the 12 months 2032.

Suspension of Madrid-Paris

In parallel with the launch of this tender, Renfe has confirmed the short-term suspension of its mission to attach Madrid and Paris by excessive velocity. The resolution responds to the technical difficulties encountered within the practice homologation course of in French territory and the shortage of a assured time horizon for its decision.

Company sources indicated that they’ve withdrawn the reserve of exploitation paths within the Paris-Lyon hall. Likewise, the plan to hyperlink Barcelona with Toulouse, initially scheduled for 2025, has been paralyzed. The operator has made the reactivation of those routes topic to technical and operational situations in France permitting viable operation.

This strategic withdrawal won’t have an effect on the present worldwide strains that join Madrid with Marseille and Barcelona with Lyon, companies that transport roughly 650,000 vacationers yearly. For the second, Renfe’s precedence will deal with consolidating its operations within the Spanish home market.