CAF signed the contract despite knowing about the design flaw 54 days earlier and concealing this fact from Renfe. Adif provided documentation to CAF in November 2020 from which it was already clear that there was a problem.
The audit commissioned by the Ministry of Transport to clarify the problems related to the order of the trains for which they are intended Cantabria and Asturias ‘that they could not fit through the tunnels’ because they did not adhere to the standard, reveals numerous coordination failures between all associated companies, the public Adif and Renfe and the private CAF.
The reason was the publication by Renfe of some contract documents that contained this incorrect information about the dimensions of these trainswhich none of the companies that bid for it could find, according to the audit now published by the ministry.
Adif in turn submitted documentation to CAF November 2020 in which it was clear before the contract was signed that there was a problem with the measures. However, this listed company did not transfer this vital information to Renfe, which was unaware of this problem.
This also means that CAF was fully aware – or at least had the documentation to be so – of the impossibility of executing the contract and signed it anyway. 54 days laterthus keeping this fact hidden from Renfe.
At that time, Adif and CAF were already aware of the meter problem and Renfe discovered it January 2021 –after the contract had already been signed– in a meeting with the State Railway Safety Agency (AESF), which led to it immediately paralyzing the execution of the contract.
That is to say, in January 2021, just a month after the signing of the contract, all parties were aware of this, yet they did not communicate it publicly, even to the relevant authorities in Cantabria and Asturias. And although the two public offices are dependent on the ministry, so is the then minister, Raquel Sánchez.
But in April 2022Renfe did meet with representatives of the ministry, in particular with the Secretary General of Infrastructure, Xavier Flores, and with staff of the Secretary of State, then in the hands of Isabel Pardo de Veraand despite this the information continued without transcending.
It wasn’t like that until February 2023 when it was made public that the execution of the contract would be postponed for at least two years after a solution was found, the so-called “comparative method”, namely the use of an already manufactured train that will serve as a guide for the new one. However, the damage to public services in those communities had already been done.
As a result of this analysis, the audit makes a series of recommendations to the public companies involved, including calling on Renfe to analyze the possible responsibilities that CAF may have assumed as a result of the “hiding information”.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
