SPANISH national operator Renfe has reportedly suspended work on its project to operate high-speed services to Paris, citing delays to obtaining approval for its new fleet of Talgo series 106 trains to operate in France.
With the timescale for obtaining approval still uncertain, Renfe told French news agency AFP that it has handed back paths reserved for high-speed services between Spain and Paris, and between Paris and Lyon. The Spanish national operator intends to resume work on the project “once technical and operational conditions allow,” Renfe said, while declining to provide further reasons for its decision.
Renfe currently operates cross-border services from Madrid to Marseille and from Barcelona to Lyon using its Alstom series 100 high-speed trains. Delays to obtaining approval for the Talgo series 106 to operate in France forced Renfe to postpone its original objective of introducing a Barcelona - Paris service in time for the start of the Olympic Games in the French capital in July 2024.
Renfe is also reported to have suspended work last year on its project to introduce a high-speed service between Barcelona and Toulouse in France. In October 2024 Renfe announced that it had requested from the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA) an extension to its safety certificate, which would enable the series 100 to operate to Toulouse.
Known as Avril by Talgo, the series 106 has also been ordered by French new entrant Le Train, which recently signed a framework track access contract to operate high-speed services from Paris to Rennes and Bordeaux. The company previously intended to focus on direct services from Bordeaux to Nantes and Rennes, bypassing the capital.
