Patentes Talgo and Adtranz announced on November 22 that their 350 km/h protoype trainset will be completed in February. Talgo CEO Francisco de Lorenzo said that ’Spain now has its own high speed design’, the fruit of a Pts6bn investment by the company. Designed as a contender for the Madrid - Barcelona rolling stock contract, the trainset has two power cars designed and equipped by Adtranz. Krauss-Maffei was responsible for bodyshells, braking equipment and other mechanical parts. Equipped with water-cooled IGBTs, each Bo-Bo power car takes power at 25 kV 50Hz to develop 4000 kW for traction. Adtranz provided control and communications systems, incorporating an optical fibre databus.
The power cars frame between eight and 12 pressure-sealed trailer vehicles, manufactured from welded aluminium alloy extrusions, and fitted with Talgo’s passive tilt equipment.
- De Lorenzo has confirmed that between 30 and 40% of the shares in Patentes Talgo will be floated on the stock market before the end of 2000. He expected a profit of Pts850m in 1999, up 30·3% from the previous year, and forecast a profit of Pts2·4bn on a turnover of Pts24·4bn for 2000. n
