- Over the past eight decades, the railway company has become a technology leader in world benchmarks due to its unique and unique technology.
- The trains Talco manufactures today are based on innovative concepts that have given Talco a clear competitive advantage.
- The successful global company employs more than 2,600 people from 47 nationalities and has an industrial presence in seven countries in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Central Asia.
Madrid, October 28, 2022
Talco, a leading Spanish company in the design, manufacture and maintenance of high-speed light rail vehicles, celebrates today, October 28, 2022, the 80th anniversary of its founding by José Luis de Oriol y Uriquen and Alejandro Coicochea Omar. With innovation as the core foundation of the company, Talco is today a global technology leader; Recognized for its capacity for innovation, unique and distinctive technology and reliability and a world reference for sustainable high-speed, long- and medium-distance trains, the company is entirely designed and manufactured in Spain.
Talco was born as a pioneering project that modernized the railways in Spain, with its concept of a clear light train with independent wheels; A faster train, which reduces energy consumption, tractor effort and travel times, increases safety and passenger comfort. In 1942, the alliance of two pioneers, an engineer who persevered with a revolutionary idea and a businessman who invested practically everything in that idea. Talco’s technology was considered revolutionary, a stark contrast to its invention in 1825, a century earlier, in the United Kingdom. Talco technology is characterized by several unique features that continue today: lightness, low energy consumption, accessibility and passenger comfort, resistance and low maintenance costs.
These distinct values, along with the innovation that has always characterized the company, have helped make Talco a technology hotspot for over 80 years. The trains that Talco designs and manufactures today are based on innovative concepts that have given Talco a clear competitive advantage. This is reflected in the world’s flagship trains such as the Talgo Avril, the world’s fastest train, the futuristic German train, ICE L (Talgo 230) and the high-speed train crossing the Saudi Arabian desert. Between Mecca and Medina.
Carlos Palacio Oriol, president of Talco, said: „These 80 years have been defined by an innovative corporate spirit that, from day one, has allowed us to position ourselves at the forefront of industrial development. Our mission is to continue from the technological advantages offered by our trains, which are benchmarks for safety, technological innovation, sustainability, excellence and comfort in the world railway industry. And continue to work for the benefit of nations and peoples”. He added: „I would like to thank all the people working at Talco for their dedication, commitment and effort to make this company a technology leader in the global railway market”.
Over these eight decades, growth has been accompanied by the evolution of Talco, which has expanded and diversified its portfolio to meet the needs of rail transport and expand internationally. It has had an exponential growth, turning it into a successful multinational company employing more than 2,600 people from 47 nationalities, reaching a large part of Europe, North America, the Middle East and Central Asia, in seven countries (including the US and Germany).
Talco’s technology is unique in the world
Talco’s technology allows them to be the only trains in the world with a single, low floor at platform level, which translates into direct comfort for passengers, who don’t need to climb stairs, and shorter boarding and disembarking times for passengers. Its trains are the only ones capable of making full use of the European track, which means greater width of rolling stock, allowing them to carry more passengers with greater comfort.
These and other competitive advantages combine to make the company’s trains the benchmark for maximum passenger efficiency, combining maximum speed and high seating capacity with low tare weight and low energy requirements compared to the same train length. In the current climate emergency, this energy efficiency has minimal impact on greenhouse gas emissions.
Talco refers to new developments in composite materials that reduce the weight of wheels and other components of rail vehicles by 50%, further reducing the overall weight of a train that is already light by definition. The company is also advancing new traction technologies, such as the green hydrogen-powered Vital One train, whose prototype TPH2 is currently undergoing dynamic tests and will be deployed in collaboration with manufacturer Repsol.
Talco Avril, Talco’s high speed train
Talco Avril is Talco’s most advanced high-speed train, a benchmark for quality and operational competitiveness in the high-speed rail segment. It is part of a highly flexible technical platform that allows each distribution to adapt to the increasingly complex needs of the European rail market with different modules depending on its internal business structure, route change capacity (Iberian and International) and its equipment. Different types of trains operate on networks.
Its high efficiency and low overall weight allow Avril trains to reduce energy consumption and maximize efficiency, contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and further enhancing the train’s status as a highly sustainable form of transport. In addition, its composition of 12 passenger cars and 200 meters in length is located on the same floor and at the same height as the platform, thus allowing passengers to access the train and move throughout its interior without steps or ramps. It’s a unique Talco capability that makes access easier for people with reduced mobility, but also provides an easy ride for all passengers, from parents with baby carriages to passengers with bulky luggage or bicycles.
Talco’s ICE L: The European benchmark in international long-distance transport
The ICE L is a long-distance train designed and manufactured by Talco, and has been chosen by German operator Deutsche Bahn as a new design benchmark for future trains. Based on the Talco 230 platform, the new train will offer the highest standards of accessibility, being the first long-distance train in Germany to allow full access at platform level and on one floor. Without steps, and its accessibility at platform level, is characteristic of trains manufactured by Talco, which will make the journey easier for all passengers. In addition, the ICE L will facilitate movement within the train and have a very high efficiency.
In terms of technical characteristics, ICE L trains consist of a multi-system locomotive (compatible with different power supply voltages and different signaling systems) and 17 passenger cars. . In addition to being used with Talco engines, these trains will be compatible with other tractor units, guaranteeing a very high level of interoperability: they will be international trains and they are planned to run domestic routes in Germany, as well as connecting. Germany with borders with Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland.
German operator Deutsche Bahn uses the train, designed and manufactured by Talgo, to promote the decarbonisation of mobility through long-distance services in Central Europe due to the vehicle’s low weight and low energy consumption. Based on the Talco 230 platform, the model will contribute to the drive by Danish operator DSB to decarbonise its rail network.
Haramain High Speed Rail is the biggest technical challenge in railway history
With the high-speed rail project in Saudi Arabia (Haramain), Talco faced the biggest technical challenge in the history of railways: to deliver trains capable of running at speeds of 300 km/h in a very hostile environment. Planet. Talco 350 trains, thanks to their technical and constructive characteristics, are now able to withstand extreme temperatures and the abrasive effects of desert sand.
The construction of Talco 350 for Haramain involves the development of patents in various areas such as protection against dust and sand, passenger safety and comfort in extreme climates or new solutions to reduce wear between wheel and rail in the desert. The trains are adapted to climatic and geographical specialities, and have reinforced systems with the so-called „desert package”, which includes more than 30 additional technologies developed specifically for this project. These technologies aim to make the train more efficient in all environmental conditions and improve maintenance efficiency.
About Dalgo
Talco SA is a leading company in the design, manufacture and maintenance of high-speed light rail with industrial presence in Spain, Germany, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and the United States. The company is recognized internationally for its innovation capability, unique unique technology and reliability. Talco is Renfe’s main supplier of trains for the „Haramain” high-speed project between Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia. Talco is the manufacturer selected by German operator Deutsche Bahn and Danish operator DSB to decarbonise the movement with 230 long-distance trains.
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