Alstom, Bombardier, CAF, Siemens and Talgo will compete for the contract to supply a minimum of 15 trains and maintain the fleet for 30 years.
In May an administrative court ruled against Renfe and ordered the company to restart the procurement process after suppressing a clause that required bidders to manufacture most of the components for the trains in Spain.
The framework contract has a value of €1.1bn on its minimal extension, but could reach €2.6bn if Renfe decides to buy 15 additional trains and to extend the maintenance period to 40 years.
The initial 15 trains will seat more than 400 passengers and have a maximum speed of 320km/h. At least 10 of the trains will be allocated to cross-border operation between France and Spain, and will therefore be equipped with three different electrification systems, and three different signalling systems (ETCS, TVM 430 and Asfa).
