Why I won’t ride the Talgo AVRIL again... (NIGHTMARE JOURNEY!)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ก.ย. 2024
- This is Europe's WORST high-speed train - the terrible Talgo Avril! 🤢
Join me for a rough and uncomfortable journey through Spain aboard the country's newest Talgo train operating on the Renfe AVE service. This isn't going to be an easy trip in Renfe AVE First Class, on what could well be Europe's worst train...
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Journey Details:
Origin: Madrid-Chamartín
Destination: Gijón
Company: Renfe
Train: Renfe S106 (Talgo Avril)
Accommodation: Premium Confort Seat (1st)
Distance: 476 kilometres / 296 miles
Price: €71.80 (£60.60 / $76.90)
Time: 3 hours 36 minutes, arrived 4 minutes late
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Find me elsewhere:
superalbs.weeb...
/ superalbs
/ superalbstravels
/ superalbstravels
Madrid Chamartín has some construction works going on at the moment.
It doesn’t matter when you’re reading this
True, it doesn't matter when, the construction will go on for years
It does resemble an airport outside as well .
@@arch9enius Wow. It really does look like an airport. The crappy lighting makes me think favourably of Euston, and that's not a good thing!
The story is as follows, 2016 there is a new contract launched for new trains that must have +500 seats, be accesible and able to change gauge and ride at over 300 km/h borh in 1435 mm gauge and 1668 mm gauge.
Talgo won the contract offering a 40% discount and almost 50% cheaper than Alstom offer. You get what you paid for.
Even after all the complaints from previous trains, Talgo still hasn’t learned at all. How, in the name of all that is holy, is that possible?
Honestly, I blame both Talgo and the Spanish Government, since the Government basically asked for a miracle in engineering on a budget
It was impossible for Talgo to be able to actually get everything done comfortably IMHO
@@1crafter176 I mean, Talgo was the one offering a 40% discount on the licitation price to bag the ordrer...
@@1crafter176 Rational
and Germany wants talgo trains for its ice service
@@meki___6881 "ICE" at 230kmh speed like the ICE T, at that speed they arent problematic and actually more confortable than standard carriages
As someone who is interested in the rail industry, but not actively reading up on every detail, it still appears to me that Talgo is remarkably often singled out for terribly engineered trains, horrible reliability, delivery delays, massive cost overruns etc.
Why do they even still exist?!
probably because spain keeps buying their trains to keep the spanish train industry alive.
Talgo was the spanish government darling for years, and only recently it has started to mature into an international company. They are capable of much better stuff than this
@@lb2791Didn't saudi arabia also buy them?
@@zafrylaiman8695 Germany also did!
The talgos offer unique carasteristics like the tilting or speed, plus gauge changing. The Avril is so bad because of cost cutring on behalf of renfe
You got the reasons wrong. Talgo trains use passive swing tilting design. Because the center of gravity is swing outwards instead of tilting into the curve like active tilting systems. There's a increased risk of derailing especially at high speed. To compensate for that, the center of gravity of the carriages needs to be as low as possible. And the carriages need to be very light, for the same reason of avoiding derailment. Low floor is just a byproduct. So is the bumpy ride, a byproduct of the lightweight construction
thanks, this is very insightful! and I suppose they need the tilt tech in order to achieve high speeds even on tracks that aren't very well made for it?
@@lb2791 I heard conflicting opinions on this. From Talgo, yes, that's the case. But from an Amtrak engineer that I talked to, who runs the Talgo sets on Cascades service, the increased derailment risk means they can't really take curves any faster. The tilt is more for comfort than speed
@@jnrfalcon With tilting technology the centre of mass doesn't change. Which means, the train can take the curves at higher speed. However, the passengers are the reason why trains without tilting systems don't take the curves as fast. You'd get thrown to the sides, which is not a pleasant experience.
Increased risk of derailing, well thats something you wanna hear when you ride a train. Fascinatingly idiotic of Talgo. For now. Let's pray it never gets to be "deathly demented"...
@@Ruhrpottpatriot it absolutely does. There are multiple articles explaining this. Especially in passive tilting, shifting center of gravity is what moves the carriages.
Although i totally agree with the shortcomings on this train being pretty bad, "nightmare journey" is quite an overstatement.
Not when all the banging and clattering is giving you a headache. I was glad to get off this mess of a train.
@@SuperalbsTravels still better than the rolling trashpiles called ICE in Germany
@@SuperalbsTravels compare this to CR400BF_BZ
@@SuperalbsTravelsplease id like you to read my comment
@@SuperalbsTravelsIf the train was german, french, english, etc, you would not have been so harsh.
There is probably a reason Alstom, CRRC, Hitachi, Kawasaki, Siemens, and Stadler didn't adapt this design even thought it have many advantages on paper
Well the wheel configuration is patented so they literally cant even if they wanted to.
The Spanish national railways Renfe are so fed up that they have recently made an official complaint to Talgo and demanded compensations for all the delays and cancellations that these awful trains are causing.
This goes on top of the hefty compensations that Talgo already had to pay for the extra late delivery of the trains.
This could be the end of Talgo.
Hopefully not. While not without their faults, many of their products are still extremely innovative and competitive. Would be a shame to lose such a major manufacturer.
@@wojciechmuras553 they wouldl probably know the same destiny of FIAT Ferroviara in Italy: being bought by Alstom or Siemens. With an increasing of product quality at the end.
Si piensan que Talgo va a desaparecer, estan muy equivocados. Van a tener que realizar muchos cambios estructurales en la compañía, pero lamento estropear vuestra fiesta, Talgo no va a desaparecer.
The competition for badly designed trains is tough
Still the AnsaldoBreda's Fira is a strong candidate for such position
@@uxiorabade2968
They built some of the GW "Hitachi" trains. Pure junk.
As a German, I'm glad that we are apparently not the only ones that constantly screw things up in the train sector.
To be honest Germany is just messing up in terms of infrastructure and capacity. (Due mostly to underfunding). The trains themselves are mostly of good quality as well as a robust network of regional rail! Can’t say the same for France or Spain!
ICE trains are among, if not, the best imo, just the rest of the rail network that leaves a lot to be desired
@@felixpgames9639 You are right. But it's still very frustrating. My personal record for a delayed journey is 11 hours...
Can't wait for the ICE-L which will be Deutsche Bahn and Talgo combined.
I agree. Germany keeps their trains clean and I'm partial to the ICE trains
Those trains in Romania would be a god's send , compared with the 30 km/h, 10 hours delay moving garbage from the 80's that we have.
My worst train ride was Nightjet from Salzburg to Vienna. Damn that carriage was cold. Windows were leaking air into the compartment from the seals and It was a Christmas Night so... I could not sleep all that night just freezing myself. I could not even change my place because it was full.
report it to OBB, usually theor trains are great
Is a nightjet from Salzburg to Vienna even worth it? I took that route this summer during the day and it was like 3 hours?
@@Jan.1023 We were making a multi country trip in christmas holidays and we did not want to stay at Salzburg so we used the nightjet and that was the cheapest option also.
@@Jan.1023 well, the coach section has the same price as a rail jet and has early or late arrovals
@@Jan.1023mightier good? There sleepers and clouchettes look like something out of the 1950’s eastern block. Or a school dormitory.
My worst train ride ever was a train ride from Vienna to Budapest run by Hungarian Railways in 2023. At Mosonmagyarovar station, my train broke down and the air con was turned off, and it was in the high 30s celsius! We were stuck for around an hour and 45 minutes in the sweltering hot weather (Which was comparable to Dubai's hot weather) and there were even people sitting on the platform edge and walking on the tracks! (Not the high speed lines) and it caused a freight train slowly coming in to blast its horn. I didn't walk on the tracks because it's dangerous. There was even a guy blasting ACDC music. But then a Railjet train picked us up an hour and 45 minutes later, we all applauded and we luckily got a seat as it wasn't very busy on that train. We got on the Railjet for free and that took us safely to Budapest. But even at Budapest, it was so crowded and we didn't know where the Metro tickets were and there were so many queues at the ticket machines. We were meant to arrive at the hotel at around 3pm, but ended up arriving at 5pm. It was disastrous.
Was that on your game console 😂
@@Oddly1970 No😆
Try 5 hours on the Eurostar stuck in Kensington Olympia with outside temperatures around 100F, inside well upwards of 120 - and no water. They'd loaded us on a unit headed for the North Pole Service Depot, simply the wrong platform, and then couldn't believe what had happened. It was only when people expecting us in Brussels raised a rucus that they got real - how nobody died I'll never understand.
Such noise is a common feature in railways of India. But even then in an AC class noise level is very low.
Shaking of coaches have come down greatly due better track maintenance & introduction of LBH coaches.
A 2h delay sounds like the DB standard
The FEVE is a wonderful line. Just adorable. I am really looking forward to traveling to my favourite towns on the north coast.
Watched this twice just to hear you saying "Avril" :)
Thank you for your videos, love your attention to detail and passion for travel!
Thank you so much! 😁
3 observations about this TR: 1> RENFE has massively upped it's game with the catering you get with premium tickets, presumably due to the competition from Iryo, but the upgrade doesn't seem to apply to breakfast unfortunately. I had dinner on a Chamartin-Murcia service about a month ago and it was unrecognizably better compared to dinner on the exact same service 1 year earlier. 2> Chamartin used to be soooo much easier to navigate than Atocha but it's a mess at the moment, also it seems like the Cercanias from Barajas terminates at Chamartin for now. Getting from the AVE to the airport is still dead easy but from the airport to the AVE - which used to be dead easy at Chamartin (much less so at Atocha) has become a bit of a nightmare involving half a dozen staircases, walking across a bus station, and being outside in the heat / cold / rain almost the whole way. 3> it is the party piece of these trains - the gauge changing tech that is largely responsible for the bad ride. Compare the S-120/S-121 (terrible ride) to the equivalent S-104 and S-114 standard gauge only sets that ride absolutely fine. Likewise the ride on the S-102 isn't great but it isn't terrible either - it is better than the Hitachi 80x crap in the UK, but the S-130 gauge changing version of the same train is bad. The same was even true on loco hauled Talgo sets - the ones used on the Mare Nostrum service from Cartagena to Montpellier rode much worse than the Iberian gauge only sets I used to ride from Madrid to Murcia/Alicante/Valencia and up/down the coast to Barcelona.
Sorry about the mess in Chamartín. The station aged poorly and they want it to become the central hub of Madrid. It will take a long time to finish the works, so we will have tl be patient about it
Glad you got a seat next to a window instead of a blank wall
it is hugely depressing how Spain has the largest high speed rail system in Europe while also having the worst high speed trains in Europe
and the situation is clearly not getting any better
??? this Avril makes up like 5% of the total fleeet what you yapping about
@@hypernewlapsethe other talgo trains (S-112) are not the best either, and they are pretty much everywhere
There's still Iryo with their sexy Frecciarossa 1000 on some routes :)
That's not true, Spain Has Alstom TGV , Hitachi ETR1000, Siemens Velaro AND Talgo trains, These new Avril sets are only a handful.
@@jpsaglimbeni the S-112 AVE trains from Talgo are alright, not the best but not too bad either.
Those carriages you saw at the end of the video, were the ones used in the night train between Lisbon and Madrid or Hendaye, as you can see the Portuguese CP logo. What a shame they are rotting there,
It's a shame, but it won't be much longer until the high-speed line between Madrid and Lisbon is open.
I moved to Lisbon in early 2020, so I never got to know what the trenhotel was like, But when you see the main way of getting to Madrid now, It makes you wish for a direct train.
@@wojciechmuras553 It's still going to be another 10 years at best. Reasonable deadline for a large project, but still 10 years without direct trains.
@@wojciechmuras553 it's going to take at least 10 years for that! Not even close to having a project and studies done for a high speed line from Lisbon towards Madrid, much less any construction starting.
In two years we will hopefully have a much quicker trip with a more direct route with only one change instead of two and more comfortable rolling stock on the Portuguese side.
And a magazine was reporting Europe didn't have enough sleeper stock to meet demand . Assuming those have a setting for the Stephenson gauge . They'll do until coaches with deep springs and better soundproofing arrive ....
Another was Running a story about volunteers offering a donkey service across the Franco-Spanish border because cross-border services had ceased but that's another story ...
To be fair, more than a few of these issues stem from build and cost specifications set forth by Renfe, not Talgo.
not a Talgo fan mostly of the Avril but it’s justified.
Before y’all say any shit about me please read and use your brain
1- Renfe was expecting the Talgo Avril on 2023 but it got delayed for 2024, making Renfe make Talgo speed up the process and probably fucking it up and very little of them being tested properly, because if you check any popular Spanish trainspotter you can see almost none of them where tested and the rest transported to Talgo and later put on service
2- tracks play a role too most of the Spanish tracks adif manages can’t be regularly checked due to their high use and only fixed when they have a big issue like the track snapping
3- if y’all know the famous video of the talgo shaking it was a hydraulics problem the train is actually pretty stable (only well tested ones) and it’s proofen
4- This is still a rumour on the Spanish train community and still not confirmed but the trains are planned to be distributed to other countries and that means that the Avril is on feedback tests to see if the passengers like it or not.
If you have read to here please respond on the point of view of respect and common sense.
Just finished a 2 week trip from Prague-Berlin-Hamburg and took trains to each thanks to your videos!
CD is not bad at all, great meals (took first class, I’m not sitting in a compartment) and very comfortable. Not as comfortable as the ICE 3 to Hamburg of which, maybe I got lucky but, it never got delayed, nor arrived late? Great coffee machine as well 😂
Any info on the horrible RENFE Website? It is just annoying to try and book a ticket there.
The renfe website has been a national meme in spain for decades, it's unbelievable that they still can't fix it.
The funny part is that their worst is better than our best
Exactly..an english honest!
That shaking made me think these made the UK's GWR IET Hitachi (and LNER Azuma) trains look OK, if a bit slow at 125 MPH.
I have travelled twice in these trains and in my case it has been a fantastic experience.
Worst journey for me was being stuck on a misery (mersey) rail train in the tunnels under liverpool for hours, being unable to contact work or anyone else while dying for the toilet!
The ride quality of that train looks like it makes pacers feel like a rolls royce 😂
Yeah but the pacer cost about 10 quid to build and lasted 35 years
@@randommusic4567 a tenner? Your setting your estimates far to high, I'd say no more than a fiver for a 3 carriage version!
I do miss riding on them, went on 1 of the trains that replaced them a couple of weeks ago & it was just bland & boring.
So envious you're going to Gijon! Have a great time in Asturias!
I hope the Talgo manufactured DB ICE L will be an exception to Talgos bad ride quality.
Not even outside the train is safe from the shaking 💀💀💀
I always have one thought when watching these review videos "Remember that you are only on the train to review it, otherwise you do not need to get on that train, imagine what it is like for people who MUST get that train to work and so on..." When you think of it from this point of view, these trains get even worse.
Exactly. Once this journey is over, I never have to ride this again. But the local people do, time and time again... 😳
Oh dear. I hope the ICE L will be at least a bit better, regarding the shaky ride.
ICE L won’t be gauge changing, which historically has correlated with better ride quality on Talgo sets.
We had one of these shortly after introduction on a journey from Mieres (just south of Ovideo) to Palencia (where we then got on an older Talgo to demonstrate how much worse the new trains are.) One feature of older Talgos is that the seats get turned around to face the direction of travel at each terminus. But not the new Avrils. So my journey was backwards facing in the middle seat of three in standard class. As a 1.86m man I found this very cramped. The screen system was a joke: The map in theory told us how we were doing against the schedule, but it wasn't able to calculate the delay, so our 20 min late arrival was on time on the screen system! Worse, several screens were simply not working at all. And yes the ride is poor. On the older Talgos there is at least some cushioning effect as the seats are much nicer, cloth covered (not plastic fake leather) and so seem to absorb some of the bumps. It will be interesting to see what French travelllers think as these trains are due to take over the trains into France and there will be a Paris to Madrid service in due course. That's a long long trip in the middle seat of three.
Paris to Madrid in 9 hours ? That will be an ordeal in itself, so much more than the bumpy ride or cramped space...
There are actually a lot of the details and finishes on this train that are really nice. Nice design, good lighting, and all that. And given the large width of the train, having 2+2 seating in first class isn't really a problem either. But when the core product - ride quality and noise levels - is so terrible, you can't really enjoy the good parts!
I’ve travelled on a few SBB Bombardier Twindex units in Switzerland this week. They’re pretty dreadful too. It was virtually impossible to drink a glass of wine in the bistro bar as the train was shaking so much, and sitting on a seat over the bogies gives such a hard ride. It amazes me that train companies like Renfe and SBB will accept such awful rolling stock.
Well, SBBC is actively planning to fix the issue - they will rebuild all Twindex trains to improve the ride quality. Renfe, on the other hand, seems to do nothing.
There actually are two types of AVRIL: the ones than can change gauge (like this one) and the ones that can’t. The gauge-changing ones do not have what is known as “primary suspension” to make way for the gauge-changing system. This being said, the fixed-gauge ones do not have a significantly better ride quality, and all other defects stay in place (density, noise, unreliability…)
Any expert inputs and corrections are welcome.
Around 1995, I had to use a Talgo to get from Alicante to the start of a cycling tour in Cieza. I managed to get the bike in by dismounting and hiding it in a bag. The Talgo was pulled by a comparatively weakly Diesel locomotive, that is why they may have kept the weight low by one-axle supports. Even high speed trains should not be like airplanes on the ground. They may be a bit slower, but most be comfortable and spacious.
Hi, person from Segovia here, the station of Segovia Guiomar also recieves high speed trains such as AVE, Avlo and Ouigo 😊
Groundbreaking Spanish technology 😂
Ha!, Now we are talking!
The noise, the vibrations, the hard seats, the bad food, the spanishness..
The world worst high-speed train with automatic change of track gauge and electric voltage.
Except for no other one.
Probably everyone here already knows, but HS trains in France, Germany, and Italy (my experience) are impressively smooth and quiet at 300km/hr.
Sure... 🤣🤣
"Mimicks the Jamaican accent from the shrunken head in Harry Potter" "It's going to be a bumpy ride !"
Take em away Ernie! Its going to be a bumpy ride!"
As the trains are so awful, I expect we'll see them sold off to a UK leasing company, where we can compare their badness with GWR Azumas!
I hope the worst issues with these trains (reliability) can be fixed 😢, some people said they might be software issues. They have been 3 years in testing, I don't know how they could mess up this badly. Ride quality and seat density are honestly minor issues, especially if prices are cut. Renfe can always send all of these trains to Avlo when they get more trains (right now they are sort on trains).
That train riding quality more like Pacer train from UK
you're the second youtuber that I've seen reviewing this train, I find it a shame about how bad it was, just because I just like how they feature them tv screens on every seat.
no, he's the fourth train vlogger who review the talgo avril train set or renfe s-106 and third vlogger to try until gijon (xixon), (simply railway, om the rails (formerly midland land) and superalbs travels), nonstop euro trip tried that until la coruña (a coruna)
@@rejeylola they wrote "that I've seen"
It is a train designed to run on very old Iberian gauge tracks that run through Asturias and Galicia in northern Spain. It is normal for it to move. Of course, incidents have been reported but they have nothing to do with the train moving more or less. At high speed its behaviour is very similar to other trains.
Really doesn’t seem bad
Honestly, I suspect these will get an interior refresh in a few years, as I reckon what they'll be fitted with will wear and age incredibly quickly, after which they'll probably be decent enough trains. I also reckon they'll fix the issues with the suspension over time as well, but yeah, right now they're absolute pants.
Thank you for your honesty.
the fixed gauge version aint that bad, I tried it on an avlo low cost service and for that is more than ok. if you want high capacity you must sacrifice confort, TGV M also has vibration problems apparently
8:32 I'm not even French but what in the holy hell is that? That looks like wonderbread pushed into a croissant mold. Where is the flaky crust?
I like the German ICE trains too...they are great and I dont need a reservation with my Eurail Global pass
I can't believe DB partnered with them to make the ICE L. Especially since they have such amazing train manufacturing companies within Germany.
The ICEs are all Siemens trains. Sure, their manufacturing plants are all over Europe, but the main one is in the Munich area... I love the Siemens Velaro trains, especialy the ICE 3
@@Brauiz90 not the new ICE L have a Google
The cabin noise somewhat reminded me of the Concorde at takeoff roll...
Oh, these make the GWR IET look comfortable.
Acutally Madrid Charmatin is not to bad of a station ... I mean apart from all the construction and IF you manage to find the nice old hall with huge plants with some food options and lots nice seats between the green.
I can’t believe how bad this is for a new product, I can’t think of another train service in a developed country that is even close to this. That second class seating is beyond words, an absolute disgrace. Watching on TH-cam and it is still easy to see how rough and noisy the train was. The food looked, well, why bother at all tbh. I guess it is a newer high speed line so you’ve got 300kph, which is always nice but I can’t think of any redeeming qualities at all - also, what is with security checks at train stations in France & Spain, it pointlessly takes away from a great benefit of traveling by train and accomplishes nothing.
Even back in 2016, seat integrated screens weren't modern anymore, they had been already abandoned on German's ICEs back then and no one missed them. Rumors say, that DB could get rid of their Talgo order, that is also already delayed if I know right. If not, at least the seats are better ones as they're the same as in the actual ICE4 but with more comfortable padding from the first impression at the Innotrans two years ago. But tbh too, I don't have bad memories on my Talgo night train ride 20 years ago between Augsburg and Hamburg, but these trains were sorted out shortly after.
4:25 "talgo has just 2 wheels with the major advantage of making the train slightly cheaper with a much much much worse ride quality"
It makes it easier to do gauge changing tho, they've been doing it for decades
It also makes easier to tilt in curves and increase speeds. Talgo used to make decent trains (see the Series 112 and 130 in Spain), but they have totally screwed up this one.
@@somewhereintime6839 CAF puts on a technology which permit to do same gauge changing but for bogies wheelset, they do this on S-104 Avant series...SO the technique exists, it's only a choice of Talgo to do only with 2 wheel beetween car, rather than discuss with CAF to be allowed to use their technology.
A noisy train is a bonus, UK train rides are nearly always spoilt by inconsiderate people watching and listening to TV programmes on their 'phones without earphones & self important people on the 'phones saying nothing very much to other people always with the never ending valediction, 'love you, love you, love you' about 6 times - at least this would mask the sound track.
And I never thought there might be a high speed train even worse than the German ICE4.
A few years ago, talgo sent a train to india to showoff it's technology and perform some tests on our rail network. But nothing came of it.
We were many disappointed at that time, but now I am happy for two reasons
1. Had talgo come, we would not see vande bharat, and the subsequent development of our local industries like is happening right now.
2. The new trains that we now make, are much quieter and more comfortable than this.
Its great that india is making its own trains, i will be riding them in January
But you forgot to mention that they are also alot slower, getting better but still a long way to go
@@randommusic4567 that is true, but it is less about trains and more about tracks. When the tracks are improved, even the current trains will be able to run at much higher speeds.
Mr. Sudhanshu Mani, the chief engineer behind T18 (vande bharat) says that the train which currently has a max permissible speed of 160 kmph during operations can easily reach 200 with some small modifications, provided the infrastructure supports it.
@@kartik_sinha The Talgo were discarded in India because the tracks couldn't accommodate the higher speed so it was not worth it. These trainsets could go 200 km/h but Indian infrastructure rarely allows anything over 150 so it was a waste of money and technology. The Vande Bharat has a max speed of 160 km/h for this reason, it's not even considered a high-speed train by international standards. Also, due to the high population density of India, the Talgo didn't have enough capacity. It had a 2+2 seating layout while the VB has a 3+2 with narrower seats.
@@osasunaitor the major reason was cost, followed by the shorter height of the talgo trains. VB trains have both 2+2 and 3+2 seating and accommodate more people per car. Max speed of VB is 180 km/h whereas max operating speed is 160 km/h and VB has really wide seats compared to talgo , having travelled in both , i can assure you of that!.
Palencia is a major intersection and junction. Fascinating.
At 14:38 I can actually feel (!) the virbations from my subwoofer.
I can't remember that ever having happened on any of your videos before. 😅
EDIT: and 15:26 is actually painful at normal listening volume.
Seriously...
I ask you, please, to read this comment carefully before watching the video:
To give you an idea of the Talgo Avril problem, the idea for the train was born in 2008. Then the global economic crisis began, And the first train was not under construction until 2016!
It was a train that the former Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy wanted to put into service, but technical problems delayed the delivery of the trains from Talgo to Renfe until 2021 and their entry into service until May 2024.
It was meant to be “the exportable model” of Spanish High Speed, with its generalization of the service thanks to some trains having wheels with displaceable rolling that allow traveling both in UIC gauge and Iberian gauge.
The first trip of the Talgo Avril, between the stations of Vigo-Guixar and Madrid-Chamartín on May 21, 2024, was a failure, including a breakdown and a 2-hour delay compared to the travel time, which was approximately 4 hours.
The technical problems have not stopped, to the point where a video compared the problems of this train to the issues of the experiment or parody made by the British television show “Top Gear” with a caravan train ⬇️: th-cam.com/video/OfppqJh1Cgw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=2pHjNxiUDxkjBFIH
This video which I put his link, by the way, is in Spanish and is based on an article by the Spanish newspaper "La Voz de Galicia", which is here and points up to 20 technical problems. Don’t worry if you don’t know Spanish, almost all browsers now offer an automatic translation option ⬇️:
www.lavozdegalicia.es/noticia/galicia/2024/08/01/veinte-deficiencias-nuevos-trenes-avril-trabajadores-renfe-transmitido-direccion/00031722531990072817519.htm
I love travelling by train in Spain. I am over 60 and the prices are wonderful.
My worst train ride ever was in Austria, going to a special event where the train was so overcrowded I got crushed in the vestibule to the point where I struggled to breathe. It was pretty scary.
Lol, what a nonsense. Then don't try to take the metro on a Monday early in the morning 😂
@@Ilar-en7lg Huh? Did you reply to the wrong comment? lol
@@mdhazeldine Ah yes sorry, I thought you had said Asturias.
Personal entertainment screens on trains is the most useless feature ever. I have seen screens on some trains in Italy and China and can't remember seeing anyone ever using them.
The Hitachi class 8xx is like a Pullman train compared to this!
Absolutely fantastic video!
The later trains, like 803, 805/807 and 810 actually aren’t/won’t be? as bad. They’re still not the absolute best, but still massive upgrades over the 800, 801 and 802.
We have been waiting forever for the Madrid to Gijón high-speed line, I'm disappointed for the train's quality
That ride was even worse than the ride of 1950's British Railways Southern Region suburban stock and track. The seats were at least well padded with horsehair and cotton wadding. Luggage facilities on modern trains leave one's heavy cases open to being stolen when out of one's sight at the end of the carriage, all operators should bring back locked by the guard/train manager baggage vans instead of more seats. Very important on services that carry a lot of holiday traffic. One just had to tell him which station one was traveling to so he put them out and summoned a porter, they did have that chalked on them for a new crew's benefit.
Railways are utterly hopeless compared to what you describe from the pre 1970 period. Best avoided.
Have a great time in Asturias!
Now I try to avoid any Talgo train with this video showing how uncomfortable they are... I'm glad the german ICE's newest member, the "ICE L" isn't in service so far... I'm german, now living in Austria for 2 years. The austrian long-distance trains are slower (the "Railjet" gets up to 230 km/h because it's a 7-car loco hauled train) but their comfort is great and they have an on-bord restaurant
Can you rank all Highspeed trains, you have ever rode? From worst to best. In my opinion a Highspeed train have to accerlerate up to 250 km/h or more.
Worst HS train ride was with Iryo from Barcelona to Madrid when my train was delayed by 4 hours and departed at 1:40am, making it a red-eye journey.
I am pretty sure you are talking about the incident on oct 22 2023 when the catenary died lmao
@@somewhereintime6839 haha actually that happened on 18 Jun 23…but thx for letting me know this happens regularly! LOL
@@vnse725 well exactly because it doesn’t happen regularly, he thought he knew the exact date
Iryo is good tho...
The faster the trains are and shortest time for long distance combined, less investment in comfort train operators do, matching the standards to low cost airliners. These are just some of slowing lost caracteristics of modern railway industry in order to survive competition with oder transportation modes and Spain might be one of the best examples to that evolution race indeed. Thnk you so much for sharing very informative videos and all the best🚂
@16.57 to call the experience uncomfortable would be a colossal understatement. I can't say i blame you for the awful trip you had ST. Especially with The Talgo wheelsets lacking proper bogies and therefore much in the way of dampening. Kind of like The Pacers in The UK.
I can speak from personal experience that shaking is also a regular occurrence on the Amtrak Northeast corridor trains
Acelas or Amfleets?
@@johannessamuelsson6578 both
I've heard the gauge changing design of the Avril is making the ride quality even worse than they wouldve been. I have some higher hopes for the Deutsche Bahn ICE-L's and DSB EC carriages of the 230 design, which is lower speed and incapable of gauge changing. However both are quite delayed now, with the EC carriages supposed to enter service in the summer to fall of 2023 and now being postponed to the summer of 2025. And I assume similar troubles down at Deutsche Bahn.
Also I find it quite peculiar that even though this train spends a lot of time at 300km/h, it's average speed is just 132km/h. Once the rail upgrades in Denmark on the Copenhagen to Aarhus line are in place, trains here will surpass it with an average speed of 143km/h despite only maxxing out at 200, and having several sections of 160km/h trackage. And 133km/h for the whole trip to Aalborg.
When in Spain I use the media distancia service - cheap, reliable, up to 160 Km/h and I do not remember any issues with chassis or suspension :) //
Too bad it has almost no frequencies outside the main cities and trains are often 50 years old in derelict conditions
@@osasunaitorpuré enviar,if you compare with english trains for example..with rotten tracks from the 60,s..and rusty slow trains
@@emiliorodenasgonzalez8568 puré enviar?
@@osasunaitorThere is not a single train in Spain that is 50 years old.
@@Ilar-en7lg the Series 470 regional trains were built in 1974-75 (back then known as Series 440). So yes, they are exactly 50 years old, and they are still commonplace in many regions.
Talgo was only focus on gauge change. That result in a very unconfortable efficient changing gauge.
My worst train trip i should say was last saturday, i got stuck in Liege-Guillemins for 6 hours on my return trip from Maastricht (Netherlands) train traffic was interrupted because the signaling system broke, we got to Bressoux (a suburb of Liege) and we didn't move for almost an hour, had to leave the train and take a Bus to Liege-Guillemins and everything was chaos no trains coming in and out people were getting angry, they got only one Bus to Brussels which was stormed by people trying to get in, i didn't made it. Got a train at 23:28 and arrived in Ghent at 01:00 AM and only had a last bus at 02:00 am to my home city has there were no more trains arrived home at 03:00 am. 🤬🤬
The worst high speed train that I have travelled on has to be Shinkansen, not that it was bad, but it is the only one (so far). 🙂
I am blessed by the Almighty algorithm of TH-cam to be here and see this amazing video and help me enhance my railway knowledge! Thanks, Superalbs...
I'm sorry, but are you kidding me? Nightmare journey!?
4:15 Articulated bogie is a big sign that either it's a fail or an expensive trial.
Look at the failed examples like JR East Series E331 (which was notorious for grounded in the depot in most of its lifetime), or Odakyu VSE Romancecar (which was forced to retire at a relatively young history of 18 years due to rising maintenance costs)...
Jacobs bogies are used heavily all over Europe without any problems. From regional trains like FLIRT to high-speed trains like TGV to commuter trains like many S-Bahns in Germany. As a matter of fact, they are even often preferred to traditional configurations
Still better than every British train by a mile
Did it overtook GWR as the worst train 😂
Excelente vídeo del tren Renfe Ave Avril S106 ( Talgo )
I tried this train from Madrid to Barcelona on the AVLO version (low-cost) and I HATED every moment of it 😬😬
It was noisy and shaky AF. But I must say the seat wasn't uncomfortable, and I was in economy. But the thing is,
We took the first train of the day at 6 o clock and I was hoping to get some sleep, but failed miserably due to
a) the noise
b) the shaking
c) the goddamn lighting! The lights were kept on full brightness but at 6 o' clock in the morning who the fuck though it'd be a good idea to just...keep them fully bright? This much is kinda expected on a high speed train...
Idk I just felt really bad by this low level of service. The train does look a lot nicer than Refe's other trains but for the rest my expectations were completely shattered
I think you should inform yourself a little better about the new Chamartin station, the main terminal has been greatly reduced due to the works. The new terminal will open in October but the limitations will last longer. The works will last until 2032, but the worst time for travelers is now.
I like rollercoasters so this train is like the dream for me 😅
I suppose that with super fast trains when they crash it's over quicker....,
hey, at least you got first class lol. In commuter trains and third and second class in long range trains sometimes people go with buckets for fishmongering, children running around, the train shaking so much it rattles your bones... that's when it arrives at the station!
I think what you aren’t conveying here is that this is a product that came online a few months ago, there is always some maturing of the operation and some small changes
I expected at least the food in a Spanish train to be good, but they really wanted to make a full train wreck of a service.
I thought it was impossible to find a worse riding train than the etr700 (formerly frya), but here we are! At least this train has better window allignment though, on the etr700 there are very high chances your "view" is only the pillar between windows...
The "Cisalpino", easily the worst train out there. Horrible even in first class.
Thankfully it doesn’t exist anymore! XD
@@felixpgames9639it is in greece operated by hellenic train owned by fs trenitalia
The German data protection agency would absolutely flip over the SMS verification for WIFI 😁
Fail to see how this is an upgrade, would take their Siemens Velaro sets over this anyday. Screens are an interesting addition in 2024, when everyone carries a phone, probably to distract from the ride quality and 3+2 seating💀
The Velaro are vastly superior in all aspects, but they don't change gauge so they can't be used in this line