Renfe's Class 100 power car fire
posted on 14th Oct 2026 10:10
At 16.05 on 12 October 2026 (a national public holiday in Spain) a fire broke out in the rear power car of AVE 100 017 between Calatayud and Zaragoza, near Ricla. The train, the 14.27 from Madrid Atocha, was bound for Barcelona and Figueres. GEC-Alsthom-built unit 100 017 has been in service since 1996.
The train was brought to a halt in open countryside, the 283 passengers were evacuated, and the local fire services were summoned to the scene. The brigades had difficulty in accessing the power car, since the line at this location is on a 40 m high embankment, with a 50o slope. At no time did the flames spread to the passenger cars, and there were no reports of injuries.
All traffic on the Madrid to Barcelona line was stopped, with 14 Renfe trains detained at Guadalajara, Calatayud, Zaragoza and Lleida. 18 other services were cancelled prior to departure. 11 Iryo services were cancelled, with four of these detained en route. Three OUIGO services were cancelled, two of these with trains detained en route. It was estimated that over 19,500 passengers were affected, 4,500 of these being Iryo passengers and over 2,000 with tickets for OUIGO services.
A bus replacement service was hastily arranged between Zaragoza and Calatayud. Matters were complicated by the fact that this was the afternoon of a public holiday, with many people returning home after the long weekend.
This was not the first time that such an incident has taken place. On 2 August 2015, a power car of 100 122 (built in 1997) en route between Marseille and Madrid caught fire when close to the station at Lunel, near Montpellier. In that incident the CIAF (Comisión de Investigación de Accidentes Ferroviarios) and its French counterpart, the BEA-TT (Le Bureau d'enquête sur les accidents de transport terrestre) discovered that the blaze had been caused by a defect in the insulation of one of the traction motors, causing arcing and overheating of nearby components. The heat ignited the transformer lubricants and other components in the traction motor, the conflagration then engulfing the vehicle. The power car was subsequently scrapped.
On 31 May 2014 a power car of 100 120 (built in 1996) also caught fire at Marseille-St. Charles and was subsequently towed to La Sagra and decommissioned. Since then the surviving power cars of this train, and of 100 122 have been in service forming one train (formation 22).
Renfe Viajeros is now facing an acute rolling stock crisis. Various members of the Class 106 AVRIL fleet are still out of service after fractures on the housing of their rodales had been discovered. In any case, Renfe has awarded Talgo to convert the trains mounted on fixed-gauge rodales to variable gauge, since this fracturing defect has not appeared on variable gauge rodales. Only two members of the ‘new’ Class 107 fleet (new power cars, renovated ex-overnight service passenger cars) have been completed and are currently undergoing authorisation testing.
The causes of the fire have yet to be discovered. Pressure is mounting on MITMS to make a speedy decision over the awarding of a contract for the next batch of 30 new high speed trains. The likely contenders are Hitachi and Siemens, though there has also been pressure within the government to extend the period for bidding for the contract, to allow Talgo to participate.
