MADRID: Saudi Arabia has ordered 20 new high-speed trains from Spain’s Talgo SA, the company and Spain’s Transport Minister announced on Sunday.
Talgo said in a statement that the deal adds 1.33 billion euros ($1.57 billion) to its backlog, bringing the total to around 6 billion euros, the largest amount on record. The contract also includes train maintenance.
The deal is a boost for Spain’s rail sector, which suffered a huge reputational hit last month after a train crash near Cordoba that killed 46 people. The incident raised questions about whether investments in maintaining the network were keeping up with soaring passenger demand.
Transport Minister Oscar Puente praised the agreement in a post on X.
“We guarantee that (national railway company) @Renfe will continue as the manager of Saudi High Speed Rail until 2038 and will inject more than €2.8 billion into the company to purchase 20 new trains from @TalgoGroup,” he wrote.
Saudi Arabia’s railway system has been operating Talgo trains since 2018. ($1 = 0.8463 euros) (Reporting by Graham Keeley; Editing by Joe Bavier)
