Talgo Signs Largest High-Speed Train Maintenance Contract in Uzbekistan

The Spanish company Talgo has signed a comprehensive ten-year contract with Uzbekistan Railways (O‘zbekiston Temir Yo‘llari) for the maintenance of six Talgo 250 trains currently in operation in the country, worth approximately 80 million euros, reports IA “Dunyo.”

According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, the contract was concluded after more than 15 years of cooperation under various agreements and became Talgo’s largest maintenance contract in Uzbekistan.

“It has strengthened the position of Spanish high-speed rail technologies in Central Asia, which began in Uzbekistan in 2009 with the acquisition of two nine-car Talgo 250 trains, which entered service in 2011,” the publication notes.

The Talgo 250 trains reach a maximum commercial speed of 230 km/h, while their design speed is 275 km/h. In 2011, a second contract was signed for the delivery of two additional eleven-car trainsets, which have been in operation since 2017.

In 2019, Uzbekistan Railways expanded its fleet by adding two more eleven-car Talgo 250 trains, along with four additional cars. As a result, the number of cars in the two trains delivered under the first contract was increased to eleven, and they began operating in 2021.

In Uzbekistan, the Talgo 250 trains operate similarly to the Spanish Alvia trains of series 130 and 730. They feature natural tilting technology, which allows higher speeds on curves by tilting the cars. Unlike the Spanish models, they do not require track gauge modification in Uzbekistan, as they run on the standard 1520 mm gauge.