Talgo Avril is a high-speed train made by Talgo. It stands for "Alta Velocidad Rueda Independiente Ligero" (roughly translated as "Light High-Speed Independent Wheel").

Design

The train is intended to have a top speed of 380 km/h. It has front and rear power cars containing under-floor/over-roof equipment and 8 trailer cars in between the power cars, giving a total seating capacity comparable to those of an electric multiple unit rather than a locomotive-hauled train. The trailer cars have an unusually short length of 13 m. Other details:

History

Talgo presented the Avril concept at the InnoTrans fair in Berlin in September 2010. After several years of development and testing, the first order for Avril trains was placed in November 2016, when Spanish operator Renfe Operadora signed a €786.5 million contract for 15 train sets and 30 years of maintenance. In May 2017, Renfe Operadora ordered 15 more train sets, with the Avril's entry into service expected in 2020, delayed to March 2024. In 2023, French operator Le Train signed a €300 million contract for 10 train sets and 30 years of maintenance. From 21 May 2024, Renfe schedules new AVE services to the Spanish regions of Asturias and Galicia, operated by variable gauge Talgo Avril trains under the class name S-106. Those AVE services are replacing the previously Alvia services Madrid Chamartín-Gijón and Castellón de la Plana/Vinaros-Gijón via Oviedo in Asturias and the Alvia services Madrid-A Coruña and Madrid-Vigo via Santiago de Compostela, Vilagarcía de Arousa and Pontevedra in Galicia. In addition Talgo Avril will replace S-112 trains for the Avlo Madrid–Barcelona, Madrid–Valencia, Madrid–Alicante and Murcia–Madrid–Valladolid services. A Talgo Avril train reached 360 km/h top-speed on the Ourense-Santiago de Compostela high-speed line on Iberian gauge as part of homologation testing.

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