The AVE S106 pointers circulate in tests through Castilla y León on a trip of the minister Óscar Puente to Galicia

• The arrival of the Avril model trains will allow almost quadrupling the seats from Santiago, almost tripling them from Coruña, more than doubling them from Vigo and Pontevedra and almost doubling them from Ourense. • Renfe has sold 109,000 tickets to travel on new trains to or from Galicia in less than a month.

Madrid, May 17, 2024

The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, has traveled today between Madrid and A Coruña in one of the new high-speed trains S106 of Renfe, which will be put into service on May 21, allowing to increase frequencies and destinations and reduce travel times between Madrid and Galicia and Madrid and Asturias. Some improvements in times and schedules that, to date, have resulted in the sale of about 109,000 tickets in almost a month to travel with origin or destination in Galicia.

The journey made by the minister is part of the commercial simulation trips that Renfe is developing these days to measure, practice and check all the phases of commercial exploitation in order to begin.

Thus, the train of the 106 series (model Avril de Talgo) departed this morning from the station of Chamartín Clara Campoamor, making stops in Ourense, Santiago de Compostela and A Coruña, where it has finished the journey without the need to change trains thanks to the movable rolling system, which allows it to travel at high speeds on a track of standard width or UIC and Iberian width. For example, the new trains allow travel between A Coruña and Madrid in about three and a half hours, which means about 20 minutes less.

In this commercial simulation they traveled with the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, the Secretary of State, Jose Antonio Santano; the President of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda; the Mayor of A Coruña, Inés Rey, the President of Renfe, Raül Blanco; the President of Adif, Ángel Contreras Marín, and the President of State Ports, Álvaro Rodríguez Dapena.

More services

With the arrival of the new trains, in a first phase, which will be developed until July 21, 4 services will be put into service with the S106 train (Avril model), back and forth, to Vigo and Coruña. Until the beginning of October, there will be 8 services with Avril, 2 tours and 2 tours to Vigo and Coruña.

And from the beginning of October, all services will be with Avril trains, except Lugo-Madrid and Ourense Alicante, going up to 24, with an Avlo service per direction to Vigo and A Coruña.

In short, this will mean almost quadrupling the places from Santiago, almost tripling them from Coruña, rather than doubling them from Vigo and Pontevedra and almost doubling them from Ourense. And Madrid will be less than three and a half hours from both Vigo and Coruña.

New generation of trains

The 106 Series trains inaugurate a new generation. They are lighter and more aerodynamic vehicles, which results in a lower energy expenditure. They are also wider, allowing them to accommodate more than 500 passengers (up to 507 on the AVE) and fully accessible, with a single floor and at the height of the platform. And, of course, they are faster, with an approved speed of 330 kilometers per hour.

The distribution of its twelve cars is made between cars with armchairs great comfort in 2+2, and 3+2 arrangement. They have information panels in the room, wifi, spaces for baby carts and vending machines.

The S106 are part of the investment package of more than 5 billion euros that the company has in place for the purchase of material and the renewal of the current one. At the moment, Renfe has received from Talgo the first ten units of the 30 commissioned.