The debacle of Talgo operation at Leo Express
posted on 5th May 2026 07:58
Leo Express officially presented the first Talgo rake to the media and invited guests in Praha on 23 April 2026. After the euphoria of the successful presentation, regular passenger service began a week later. And the harsh reality of routine service, when the results of the first days do not provide much reason for managerial pats on the back... There were various defects in the Talgo rakes, train delays of up to several hours and finally cancellations of many services for several days (some of them now until 17 May!), which significantly affect Leo Express's operation.
However, this result is not such a surprise if no major repairs or modernizations were carried out on the Talgos, no test operation or at least proper test runs took place, not to mention the remarkably quick approval of these completely atypical vehicles for the Czech and Slovak railways. How must the practical training of new LE "engineers" of generator cars have been going, when the first Talgo stood idle on a siding in Karviná for a month and a half and the other two sets barely managed to undergo at least the minimum modifications that Leo Express decided to make after arriving from Spain?
And there are many other problems... It is still too early to assess the situation after the first few days, we will have to wait at least a year for that, because the best measure of success will be the reliability of Talgo trains, proven by summer and winter operations, and then also the interest of passengers. However, the problems that occurred right at the beginning of operation say something quite clearly...
