SPAIN’s minister of transport and sustainable mobility, Óscar Puente, has announced a €1bn investment plan to upgrade national operator Renfe’s train maintenance workshops between 2025 and 2030.
Puente says the project involves more than 60 workshops, 10 of which are already underway or planned.
Renfe’s 2025-2030 workshop and maintenance plan includes:
• the new €48m OSP suburban train workshops project in Madrid, with workshops in Aranjuez, Móstoles-El Soto and Fuencarral
• the new €100m OSP Catalunya suburban train workshops project serving the Barcelona area with new workshops in Ripoll, Manresa and Sant Andreu, and the expansion of Vilanova i la Geltrú workshop, and
• projects in Murcia, Malaga, Santander, and Valencia, as well as new bases in Almeria, Irun, and La Sagra for high-speed and freight trains.
Three new Fleet Parts Logistics Centres are also planned in Venta de Baños near Palencia, and La Sagra and Villaverde in southern Madrid, along with the adaptation of the El Berrón workshop east of Oviedo to handle fleet parts for metre-gauge trains.
During a visit to Renfe's new €100m high-speed train workshop in Fuencarral II, Madrid, on October 10, Puente described the plan as “a new maintenance model that optimises resources, reduces time, and improves the reliability of trains in operation.” The Fuencarral II workshop covers an area of 18,900m2 which will double the maintenance capacity for standard-gauge trains when it opens towards the end of the year.
The new maintenance model will incorporate technologies to improve passenger services and real-time monitoring systems to detect potential incidents before they occur. In addition, automatic track inspection systems, digital tools for operations management, and modernised industrial equipment in workshops will be introduced. The plan also involves the digitalisation of processes, the automation of tasks, and the installation of energy-efficient systems.
“Thanks to the reorganisation of processes and digitalisation, workshop times have been reduced by 29%, which means more trains available, greater punctuality, and a more efficient service,” Puente says.
