Talgo (Deutschland) GmbH

Deutschland

History

The origin of the Talgo articulated trains lies in an invention by the Spanish engineer Alejandro Goicoechea, who wanted to overcome the disadvantages of the heavy and track-unfriendly vehicles of the time with a new concept at the end of the 1930s.

In 1942, when Goicoechea founded the company Patentes Talgo S.A. together with the financier Oriol, the Talgo I went into operation as a test vehicle. In Spanish, Talgo stands for Tren articulado ligero Goicoechea Oriol (“light articulated train to Goicoechea and Oriol”).

Talgo chronology

  • June 1936: Goicoechea submits a proposal to the board of the La Robla railway company to build an extremely light articulated train.
  • August 1941: Goicoechea carries out test runs at speeds of up to 75 km/h between Madrid and Leganés with a 12-car articulated train made up of triangular frames coupled together like drawbars with independent wheels.
  • October 1942: First test run of the Talgo I between Madrid and Guadalajara.
  • January 1944: The Talgo I reaches a speed of 135 km/h between Madrid and Avila.
  • February 1945: Talgo and the US American Car and Foundry agree to jointly develop two trains and three locomotives for use in Spain. A third train is used for demonstration purposes in North America.
  • April 1949: The first industrially manufactured Talgo train is tested between Hoboken and Dover (USA).
  • July 1950: The Talgo II begins commercial passenger service between Madrid and Irún.
  • August 1964: Start of passenger service with the Talgo III and the 2000 T locomotives from Krauss-Maffei between Madrid and Barcelona.
  • November 1968: First direct journey of a re-gaugeable Talgo III RD from Madrid to Paris, without changing trains at the border.
  • June 1969: Start of operation of the “Catalán Talgo” on the TEE route between Barcelona and Geneva.
  • May 1972: Speed record with diesel drive. A Talgo III reaches 222 km/h with a 3000 T locomotive from Krauss-Maffei.
  • May 1974: Start of passenger service with Talgo hotel trains on the Barcelona-Madrid line.
  • June 1980: Start of operation of Talgo Pendular trains with passive tilting technology.
  • May 1988: Successful test runs of the Talgo Pendular in the USA and Germany.
  • December 1990: The German Federal Railway reaches a speed of 500 km/h with a Talgo Pendular passenger coach on its rolling test rig in Munich.
  • May 1994: Operation of the first Talgo Pendular trains as InterCityNight in Germany between Berlin and Munich and Bonn. Talgo (Deutschland) GmbH commences operations in Berlin.
  • November 1994: A Talgo Pendular reaches a speed of 360 km/h with the ICE-V during rail tests in Germany.
  • July 1996: The Washington State Department of Transportation and AMTRAK decide to purchase Talgo Pendular trains.
  • April 2000: Presentation of the 1st retractable diesel multiple unit Talgo XXI.
  • May 2000: Presentation of the prototype of the Talgo 350 high-speed train.
  • July 2000: Talgo test runs take place in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia.
  • August 2000: Commissioning of the first locomotive-hauled Talgo Series 7 for 220 km/h ordered by RENFE.
  • October 2000: Talgo signs an agreement with the Kazakh company Temir Zholy for the delivery of Talgo Pendular 200 trains.
  • March 2001: RENFE awards the contract for the delivery of 16 Talgo 350 trains for use on the Madrid-Barcelona line.
  • December 2001: A Talgo train delivered in advance is put into service in Kazakhstan.
  • June 2002: The retractable diesel multiple unit of the type Talgo XXI of the Spanish infrastructure operator GIF sets a new world record for diesel-hydraulic trains: 256 km/h.
  • September 2003: Talgo presents a control car for Talgo XXI push-pull trains.
  • September 2003: 2 Talgo hotel trains connect the Kazakh metropolises of Almaty and Astana in regular operation.
  • April 2004: RENFE commissions a consortium of Talgo and Bombardier to supply 18 Talgo 250 reversible high-speed multiple units.
  • May 2004: A modernised Talgo train from DB carries out a test run to Russia (Berlin-Königsberg/Kaliningrad).
  • July 2004: Talgo establishes a maintenance branch in Kazakhstan.
  • February 2005: Regular operation of the AVE S102 high-speed trains (Talgo 350) begins between Madrid and Lérida.
  • April 2005: Talgo presents the prototype (TRAVCA) of a reversible multi-system locomotive for high-speed transport.
  • June 2005: RENFE orders 10 new hotel trains from Talgo, which run at speeds of up to 220 km/h.
  • May 2006: Kazakhstan’s state railway company commissions Talgo to supply further trains for day and night services.
  • January 2009: Start of operation of the new hotel trains for overnight journeys within Spain.
  • July 2009: The US state of Wisconsin commissions Talgo to supply two 14-car day trains.
  • December 2009: The railway company of Uzbekistan orders two Talgo 250 high-speed multiple units.
  • Winter 2009 / 2010: Test runs in Russia with a Talgo test train.
  • March 2010: Arrival of the first train for ZFBH in Sarajevo.
  • April 2010: Talgo receives the order by the Spanish RENFE to convert 15 Talgo 250 InterCity multiple units into hybrid trains. For this purpose, the trains are equipped with additional generator wagons for operation on non-electrified lines.
  • November 2010: Conclusion of a contract with the Kazakh TZK for the construction of a production plant in Kazakhstan for the renewal of the long-distance vehicle fleet of the Kazakh railways.
  • June 2011: Talgo reaches an agreement with the Russian RŽD for the delivery of long-distance wagon trains for high-quality domestic and international transport.
  • July 2011: Arrival of the first Talgo 250 for Uzbekistan and inauguration of the first Central Asian high-speed line.
  • November 2011: a Spanish consortium in which Talgo is involved is awarded the contract to supply 35 Talgo 350 high-speed trains for the new Mecca-Medina line to be built in Saudi Arabia.
  • September 2012: Talgo presents the prototype of the AVRIL high-speed train at Innotrans in Berlin. The train is designed for 380 km/h, has a space-optimised, extra-wide carriage body with 2+3 seating and is based on a consistent application of lightweight construction concepts.
  • September 2013: In cooperation with DB Systemtechnik, tests with an EVA wheel parameter measurement system at line speeds of up to 160 km/h begin near Hanover under the project name OptiPro.
  • April 2015: The Talgo-AVRIL prototype reaches a speed of 363 km/h during test and approval runs.
    July 2016: A Talgo tilting train sent for test runs sets the speed record on the Indian railway network.
  • November 2016: Spain’s RENFE awards Talgo the contract for the delivery of 15 AVRIL high-speed trains and their long-term maintenance.
  • December 2016: The new hotel train route between Berlin and Moscow operated by the Russian RZD with fully automatic gauge change at the Polish-Belarusian border goes into operation.
  • February 2019: Talgo signs a framework agreement with Deutsche Bahn for the production of up to 100 Talgo 230 trains and an initial call-off order for 23 trains. Under the brand name ICE-L (L for low floor), these new trains will make long-distance transport more customer-friendly thanks to their almost completely low-floor design. They consist of 17 coaches and one locomotive and travel at speeds of up to 230 km/h.
  • February 2020: The Danish state railway DSB orders 8 passenger train compositions based on the Talgo 230 platform for high-quality passenger transport from Denmark to Germany.
  • May 2021: The Spanish state railway RENFE orders the conversion of locomotive-hauled Talgo night coach trains to day coach trains in high-speed traffic from Talgo, as well as the construction of up to 40 gauge-changing 330 km/h multi-system power cars to expand the Spanish high-speed fleet.
  • July 2021: The Spanish oil company Repsol and Talgo agree on the joint development of a hydrogen-powered train.
  • August 2022: Talgo concludes a contract with the Egyptian railway company ENR for the delivery of 7 night trains and their maintenance for 15 years.
  • April 2023: The Danish DSB orders a further 8 Talgo 230-car trains (similar to ICE L) and a total of 16 driving coaches. This makes the entire fleet of 16 coach trains reversible.
  • May 2023: DB Fernverkehr AG orders further 56 ICE L trains in a second call-off order. Together with the first call-off order, this amounts to 79 ICE L trains.