Renfe and Talgo have designed the ten sets of the new Trenhotel, with four carriages offering highly comfortable super reclining seats, four sleeper cars with double Grand Class suites, a buffet car and restaurant with à la carte dining, and different services for people with reduced mobility. The new Trenhotel has a variable gauge system to be able to travel on both UIC and conventional tracks, with a top speed of 220km/h.
The service offered by the new Trenhotel is designed to satisfy the different ideas of what a train journey at night should be all about. Ranging from the most discerning customers, who demand the quality standards of a luxury hotel in Grand Class compartments, to those travelling on a super reclining armchair, similar to those in airline business class.
The Trenhotel has 136 seats in this class (6 carriages with 20 seats each, plus 2 ends with 8 seats each.
These seats have individual controls to recline the backrest and lift the footrest, comfortable headrests that can be raised and lowered, folding table, power point and magazine rack.
Its features even include indirect lighting that can be either general, dimmed or emergency, as well as a reading light, individual audio system, luggage rack with anti-theft system and pushbutton to call staff on-board. The toilets, located in each carriage, except the end carriages, are equipped with a baby changer.
Each set of carriages on the new Trenhotel has 10 Grand Class carriages and capacity for 98 passengers. Each carriage has five compartments with two beds each, except one carriage containing the compartment adapted for people with reduced mobility, which has four compartments.
The comfort offered by the compartment offers a marked increase on current compartments, as customers will have longer and wider beds (200 x 80 cm.), a latex mattress offering the utmost in comfort, toilet complete with new design and materials; also worth note is the removal of the shower curtain and its replacement with tempered glass screens, providing a greater sense of space and hygiene.
The compartments have adjustable general lighting, individual reading and dimmed lights. The entertainment system consists of audio and video channels with a 15-inch screen that allows travellers to view up to eight films, which they can choose between freely.
Comfort in the compartment is increased with two armchairs in the day position and there are two folding, retractable tables and large luggage storage areas, a magazine rack and an area for personal belongings, in addition to other features. There is an access card for the room and intercom phones to contact the on-board staff and receive an automatic wake-up call.
The compartment adapted for people with reduced mobility is located next to the buffet and the restaurant, which also has an accessible bar and a table that has been adapted accordingly.
The buffet on the new Trenhotel is equipped to offer food and drinks in the buffet car.
The stools have been removed from the bar area of the buffet car, creating a clear area to facilitate the movement of customers, thus facilitating the provision of this service. Its lighting and design combine to create a calm meeting space, where you can chat and consume the products offered.
The kitchen on the new TrenHotel, located in the buffet car, is equipped with a griddle, two microwaves, an oven, cold stores and dishwashers, and is designed to offer freshly prepared produce.
The restaurant is home to 30 seats across 10 tables, separated from one another by tempered glass screen, providing the feeling of intimacy necessary to enjoy this service. This space will serve both a la carte dinners and breakfast.
These two carriages have been designed in a modern and functional way, combining high-quality materials with more avant-garde ones. The carefully chosen lighting creates a bright atmosphere in the buffet and more intimate lighting in the restaurant.
Both the buffet and the dining room are accessible to those with reduced mobility, with a bar area located at an adequate height and an adapted table.
As a form of travel designed for use at night, in which the silence that facilitates rest in common areas (seats, buffet and restaurant) must prevail, passengers are provided with information on panels equipped with the on-board information system, notifying the location of the train via GPS and other information that is relevant to the journey.
The Trenhotel has a variable gauge system to be able to travel on both UIC and conventional tracks, with a top speed of 220km/h and 234 seats on-board.
The Trenhotel features an updated night service, redefining sleeping accommodation by removing economy and first class compartments in addition to the introduction of super-reclining seats offering the utmost in comfort, similar to those used on long-haul flights, as the only class of seats. The 234 seats are distributed across: 136 normal seats (6 carriages with 20 seats, plus 2 end carriages with 8 seats each) and 98 sleeping accommodation spaces (9 carriages with 5 double Grand Class compartments, plus one carriage with 4 double Grand Class compartments, one of which is suited to travellers with reduced mobility). It also features a buffet car and a restaurant car, in which a la carte dining will be offered.
The seats adapted to travellers with reduced mobility will be expanded, including two adapted super-reclining seats in the final 6 trains built, with the other 4 pending an upcoming modification.
In the design of this renewed night service, significant efforts have been made, carefully selecting the materials, colours, lighting and decoration, to ensure the rest and comfort of customers.
This Trenhotel, which represents an upgrade of the 7 series, remains faithful to the Talgo body technology that naturally sway, supported on the wheelset.
The train consists of self-supporting extruded aluminium bodies. Its composition is symmetrical and is structured around the buffet car, which has two stands. From here the middle carriage bodies are supported on the previous carriage by means of an articulated weight carrier rod, resting at the other end on its wheelset thanks to the columns and secondary suspension pneumatic balls. All carriages are connected by means of a semi-permanent Talgo-type hitch.
The bodies feature deformable energy absorption and anti-slip elements for shock protection. The carriages are fully airtight, as a protective measure against the pressure waves generated by the speed of the train or when travelling through tunnels and the outer doors are also sealed.
The Trenhotel's rolling system is characteristic of Talgo, with wheels independent from one another and with the option of modifying the width to travel on both UIC and conventional tracks. This change in width can be performed automatically without requiring any external intervention at a speed of up to 15 km/h.
The wheels are equipped with a guidance system that aligns them with the track at all times, reducing the aggressiveness in the wheel-rail ratio and improving their dynamics. The chasses are made of welded steel, with the traditional yoke shape that supports the wheel assemblies from the bottom and the secondary suspension from the top.
The carriages receive their supply of electricity from the machine; therefore, they have two 400 kV static converters, one per end carriage, to convert the current coming from the engine into 380 V current for the electricity consumed by the train. Each of these converters uses IGBT semiconductor technology and powers half the set of carriages, from the end carriage to the buffet car.
Each carriage features equipment to control the rolling parameters, safety and the electrical, pneumatic and comfort systems. Central monitoring posts are located at the ends to view and manage faults and the condition of all equipment on the set of carriages.
The Trenhotel is equipped with shock energy absorption devices, anti-roll and anti-slip systems, automatic brake and rolling control.
In terms of fire protection, the train has detectors in all compartments, toilets, equipment and unmanned areas, as well as fire barriers pursuant to current regulations.