Renfe has sent a letter to Talgo in which it informs it not only that it will impose a penalty of 116 million euros for delays in the delivery of the Avril high-speed trains, but also that it will apply an additional penalty of 50 million euros. euros for lost profits and another of 80,000 euros starting in April for each day of delay, according to sources close to the public company.
The letter was sent on March 6, that is, one day before the presentation of the takeover bid by a Hungarian consortium led by the oil company MOL and the country's state investment fund to acquire Talgo for 619 million euros. That same day, the Minister of Transportation, Óscar Puente, said that he "will do everything possible" to prevent the operation due to the bidders' links with Russia.
The Avril train contract was awarded by Renfe in 2016 and included in the first phase the delivery of 15 trains for 786 million euros, with the option to expand up to 30, which the Government of Mariano Rajoy did a year later, in 2017.
In 2021, due to delays in deliveries, the Government of Pedro Sánchez granted an extension to Talgo which, once expired, caused a penalty of 116 million over which Renfe and the company had been negotiating.
In the letter sent this week, Renfe reports that it will apply a penalty for lost profits of 50 million for the delay between mid-2022 and the whole of 2023, and that this year it will move to daily penalties, which can reach almost 30 million additional euros over the course of a year.
Talgo's high-speed Avril trains are equipped with one of the most successful technologies of the Spanish company, the movable tread, which is what allows you to go from the international gauge, narrower and used on AVE tracks, to the wide Iberian, with greater distance between rails.
This technology is what should allow trains to be taken to Asturias and Galicia in the final sections, when the high-speed line ends, without having to change vehicles. The Alstom and Siemens models cannot provide this service, so the Avrils are necessary.
For this reason, Renfe itself is encountering growing pressure among regional governments and has decided to launch an offer of tickets for 25 euros to at least compensate travelers.
