The trains could not have passed into certain tunnels. They have not been manufactured, but the design error should lead two years late in this market at 258 million euros.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
Two resignations for a “fiasco”: in Spain, a case of trains that are too large for certain tunnels has dropped the boss of the railways and the number two of the Ministry of Transport. At the head of the Renfe railway company since June 2018, Isaias Taboas presented his resignation on Monday, February 20, a company spokesperson (AFP) told the agency. This announcement was added to that in the same direction of the Secretary of State for Transport, Isabel Pardo de Vera, confirmed the ministry in a press release.
These resignations are linked to the order of 31 trains intended for the northern rail network. Before their construction, we realized that they would be too large for certain tunnels in which they had to pass. This order, in the amount of 258 million euros, had been entrusted at the end of a call for tenders in June 2020 to the Spanish manufacturer of CAF rail equipment, competitor of French Alstom and the German Siemens, According to the Renfe.
“No money has been wasted”
According to the rail operator, it was this company, the headquarters of which is in the Basque Country, which noticed in March 2021 that the dimensions provided during the call for tenders were incorrect. It then alerted the authorities before even engaging in manufacturing. “There has never been any risk that trains of bad dimensions be built because the manufacturer had the obligation, defined in the tender documents”, to carry out checks, assured the renfe to the ‘AFP.
This error made public in early February, almost two years after detecting the problem, will nevertheless lead to delays in the delivery of the trains, which should be put into circulation in 2026 and not in 2024 as expected, according to the group rail. According to Spanish media, it could also lead to additional costs due to the rise in material prices. “There is no financial problem, no money has been wasted,” retorts the Renfe.
The affair aroused a lively controversy in Spain, where the right opposition accused the government of the Socialist Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, of “guilty concealment” and “opacity” less than a year from the Legislative elections scheduled for the end of 2023. The number two of the popular party (PP, right), Cuca Gamarra, deplored a “fiasco”.
“I reiterate my apology”
This controversy had already led the Ministry of Transport to dismiss its duties, on February 6, the former manager of the management of renfe equipment and a senior ADIF official, the manager of the Ferré network. She also pushed the ADIF and the Renfe to open a common investigation to understand what the Minister of Transport described as “gross error”.
The president of the Cantabrie region, Miguel Angel Revilla (PRC regionalist party), claimed on Monday “compensation” for his territory directly assigned by this erroneous order of trains. “We want to be clarified” the circumstances of the incident and that “solutions are put on the table,” added Adrian Barbon, socialist president of the Asturias region on Monday, also affected, before a meeting at the ministry.
“I apologize but I also insist that we are working and that we try to implement the solutions,” said the Minister of Transport, Raquel Sanchez, at the end of this meeting.