In Spain, trains designed too large to pass through tunnels

Madrid

It's a size error.

A few centimeters, perhaps several dozen, we still don't know… which could delay the delivery of 31 trains by two or three years on a contract worth 258 million euros.

The dimensions communicated by Renfe, the Spanish public operator, to the winner of its call for tenders to renew its fleet in the north of the country turned out to be incorrect.

In other words, the regional trains as described in the specifications were not going to pass through the tunnels of Cantabria, Asturias or Galicia!

The Spanish gag is reminiscent of the 2014 French controversy over trains that were too wide for some station platforms… except that it's more difficult – and out of the question – to dig a mountain than to push back a platform.

And that in this case, Renfe admitted to having indeed made a mistake in its order, while the SNCF assumed on the contrary that its new vehicles would require adaptations of the infrastructure.

It was the builder, the Spanish Basque CAF, who detected the incredible ball.

In time to avoid planing cars or drilling into rock, but too late to ensure on-time delivery.

In response to the anger of regional elected officials, the Minister of Transport promised the “

” dismissal of those responsible for the error, who are still unaware of whether they work at Renfe or at Adif, the network manager.

The administration has at least unveiled its solution: a train, of those currently in service, will be loaned to CAF so that it can measure the functional gauges itself.