I recently went on a trip to Barcelona, and took the AVE to and from Madrid.
On the ride from Barcelona to Madrid, I was on a Siemens trainset. It was smooth, comfortable, quiet, and fast. (Top speed I saw was 300 kph). We made 4 stops and made the journey in a little over 3 hours.
The return ride was on a Talgo trainset, and the ride was much bumpier and noticeably noisier. (Top speed was again, 300 kph). The train ran non-stop and we made the trip in exactly 2.5 hours.
The interior was also a bit more comfortable on the Siemens trainset...
Was wondering in anyone had any thought on why the Talgo ride quality was so much worse than the Siemens? Both trains came out around the same time ... The only thing I can think of is the nature of the talgo coaches (Lightweight/low slung/less dampening). Looks like Renfe went with Talgo again for their next order (Talgo Avril).
On a side note, I rode another variant of the Siemens Valero when I took the Eurostar between London and Paris, it also had a great ride quality. Having ridden on various Alstom TGVs, Shinkansens, and Siemens trains, it seems Talgo is noticeably different (worse) in ride quality and isolation of noise.
On the ride from Barcelona to Madrid, I was on a Siemens trainset. It was smooth, comfortable, quiet, and fast. (Top speed I saw was 300 kph). We made 4 stops and made the journey in a little over 3 hours.
The return ride was on a Talgo trainset, and the ride was much bumpier and noticeably noisier. (Top speed was again, 300 kph). The train ran non-stop and we made the trip in exactly 2.5 hours.
The interior was also a bit more comfortable on the Siemens trainset...
Was wondering in anyone had any thought on why the Talgo ride quality was so much worse than the Siemens? Both trains came out around the same time ... The only thing I can think of is the nature of the talgo coaches (Lightweight/low slung/less dampening). Looks like Renfe went with Talgo again for their next order (Talgo Avril).
On a side note, I rode another variant of the Siemens Valero when I took the Eurostar between London and Paris, it also had a great ride quality. Having ridden on various Alstom TGVs, Shinkansens, and Siemens trains, it seems Talgo is noticeably different (worse) in ride quality and isolation of noise.
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