Chagrined Spanish railroad officials who ignored the old adage “Measure twice, cut once” are pointing fingers at each other over new trains that don’t fit in the tunnel.
€258 million worth of new trains intended for suburban and regional service in Asturias and Cantabria face a two-year delay until 2026 because they are too wide for tunnels on the routes.
Renfe, the rail operator that ordered the trains, is blaming Adif, the government agency responsible for infrastructure, saying that they used Adif’s published measurements for the tunnels to generate specifications. Adif, for its part, says its measurements are correct and that Renfe gave the trainbuilder the wrong information.
Bizarrely, Spain’s General Secretary of Infrastructure has denied that there is a problem, saying “It is not that they were designed too wide, they would never be designed if they did not fit inside the tunnel.” In the meantime, Adif announced on Monday that it had fired the heads of its Inspection and Track Technology departments, and Renfe has also fired an official of its Technical and Operations Directorate.
No word in press reports about how the problem will be solved, either by modifying the cars or the tunnels.
UPDATE
New developments in the story of the trains that won’t fit the tunnels.