AVE 102

In the Nineties, and following the construction of the High-Speed Madrid-Seville line, the Spanish government decided to embark on the construction of the Madrid-Barcelona line. A public tender was therefore issued for the project to produce new trains capable of reaching speeds of 350 km/hr in order to cover this route in less than two and a half hours, thus rivalling the Air Shuttle service between the cities of Madrid and Barcelona.

Talgo undertook the Talgo 350 project, designing a new train with pressure-sealed coaches, capable of withstanding the overpressure produced in high-speed operations, new rolling stock, based on Talgo technology, and revolutionary power heads to be manufactured by Bombardier.

In March 2001, Renfe appointed the Talgo-Bombardier consortium for the construction of 16 of these trains for its high-speed service (AVE) on this new Madrid-Barcelona line. Renfe named these trains S-102.
Each train belonging to the 102 series consists of two power heads and twelve Talgo coaches with newly-developed interiors. The intermediate coaches follow the same concept as the Talgo trains: a shared axle system between coaches.