In Spain, a case of oversized trains brings down the president of Renfe

Europe 1 with AFP 6:56 p.m., February 20, 2023

Two resignations for a "fiasco": in Spain, a case of trains too big for certain tunnels brought down the boss of the Spanish railways and the number two of the Ministry of Transport, after 15 days of embarrassing controversy for the executive.

At the head of the Renfe railway company since June 2018, Isaías Taboas "submitted" his resignation on Monday, a spokeswoman for the company told AFP.

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A surprise resignation

This surprise resignation was added to that of the Secretary of State for Transport Isabel Pardo de Vera, also former president of Adif, the manager of the Spanish rail network, confirmed the Ministry of Transport in a short press release.

The Minister of Transport, Raquel Sanchez, "expressed her gratitude" to these two leaders for "the work accomplished in their respective functions", specifies the ministry, which evokes "a new stage" for the Spanish railway sector.

The resignations come after more than two weeks of controversy over the order of 31 trains for the rail network in northern Spain, the size of which proved to be too large for some tunnels in which they were supposed to pass.

two years late

This order, worth a total of 258 million euros, was awarded following a call for tenders in June 2020 to the Spanish manufacturer of railway equipment CAF, competitor of the French Alstom and the German Siemens. , according to Renfe.

According to the rail operator, it was this company, headquartered in the Basque Country (north), which realized in March 2021 that the dimensions provided during the call for tenders were incorrect.

She then alerted the authorities even before starting the construction of the trains.

“There was never any risk that trains of the wrong size would be built, because the manufacturer had the obligation, defined in the tender documents”, to carry out checks, assured Renfe to the AFP.

This error - made public at the beginning of February, almost two years after the problem was detected, will nevertheless result in delays in the delivery of the trains, which should be put into circulation during the year 2026 and not in 2024 as initially planned. , according to the railway group.

"Guilty Concealment"

According to Spanish media, it could also lead to additional costs due to the rise in material prices in recent months.

A problem denied by Renfe: "there is no financial problem, no money has been wasted", assures the group.

The case has sparked heated controversy in Spain, where the right-wing opposition has accused the government of socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of "culpable concealment" and "opacity", less than a year before the legislative elections scheduled for the end of 2023. . 

"You preside over a government which orders trains that do not pass through tunnels", thus ironically recently in Parliament the number two of the Popular Party (PP, right), Cuca Gamarra, evoking a "fiasco".

This controversy had already led the Ministry of Transport to dismiss from office on February 6 the former head of equipment management at Renfe and a senior official at Adif.

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A joint investigation by Adif and Renfe

She also pushed Adif and Renfe to open a joint investigation to shed light on the circumstances that led to this situation, described as a "gross mistake" by the Minister of Transport.

Reacting Monday to the resignations of the boss of Renfe and the Secretary of State for Transport, the president of the region of Cantabria, Miguel Angel Revilla, of the regionalist party PRC, called for "compensation" for his territory, directly affected by this erroneous train order.

“We want the circumstances to be clarified and solutions to be put on the table,” added Adrian Barbon, socialist president of the Asturias region, also affected, on Monday before a meeting called at the Ministry of Transport on this fiasco.