Passenger Train, Electric, AVE Serie 102

History: The AVE Class 102 or Serie 102 (nicknamed "Pato" in Spanish, because of its nose that looks like the beak of a duck, "pato" in Spanish) is a high-speed train used for the AVE (Alta Velocidad Española, Spanish High Speed) service and operated in Spain by the state-run railway company RENFE. Outside AVE service, Talgo markets this train as Talgo 350.

The AVE Serie 102 was constructed by Talgo with Adtranz (later Bombardier Transportation) providing the power car technology. The trainsets can consist of up to 12 Talgo series VII coaches. It was certified for a top speed of 330 km/h (205 mph). This top speed was supposed to be enough to fulfill the tender condition of a two-and-a-half-hour travel time between Madrid and Barcelona.

RENFE's original order was for 16 units, delivery of which began in 2003. A follow-up order for 30 similar trains was delivered in 2009-2010 and designated as Serie 112.

- Read more about Renfe Serie 102 (in Spanish) on www.ferropedia.es (archive)
- Read more about Renfe Serie 112 (in Spanish) on www.ferropedia.es (archive)

Read more on Wikipedia.

Railroad/Company: Talgo is a Spanish manufacturer of intercity, standard, and high speed passenger trains. The word Talgo is also used by the rail operator RENFE for a type of inter-city rail service (using Talgo VI cars). Talgo is an acronym for "Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol, Goicoechea-Oriol".

Talgo trains are best known for their unconventional articulated railway passenger car that uses a type similar to the Jacobs bogie that Talgo patented in 1941, similar to the Robert Stephenson and Company trains. The wheels are mounted in pairs but not joined by an axle and the bogies are shared between coaches rather than underneath individual coaches. This allows a railway car to take a turn at higher speed with less swaying. As the coaches are not mounted directly onto wheel bogies, the coaches are more easily insulated from track noise. Talgo trains fitted with variable gauge axles can change rail gauge - for instance at the 1,668 mm Iberian gauge/1,435 mm standard gauge at the Spanish-French border interchange.

From Wikipedia