Alaris
Encyclopedia
Alaris is the brand name of the regional rail
network run by the Spanish
national rail company RENFE
that connects the major cities of Madrid
and Valencia, and Barcelona
and the main cities of the Valencian community
. Alaris services currently use ETR 490 trainsets, as well as S-120 and S-130
units.
trains which had run on the line for over thirty years. As a replacement, RENFE looked for new railcars that could run at high speeds on electric lines.
After searching throughout the ideas of multiple companies, RENFE chose a conglomeration of GEC, Alstom
, and FIAT Ferroviaria
as the winners of a bid to develop new trains for the network titled ETR 490, similar to the ETR 470
trains used on the Italian Cisalpino
network.
The new units were put into service on a new line between Madrid and Valencia via Albacete
with emphasis on high speed, quality, and comfort. Although originally known as InterCity 2000, RENFE did not believe that the name was representative of the service, RENFE decided to rename the service "Alaris." RENFE then rebranded and repainted its trainsets and other publicity to show the new logo.
, and can maintain a moderate continuous speed of 200 km/h (124.3 mph).
Regional rail
Commuter rail, also called suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates between a city center, and the middle to outer suburbs beyond 15km and commuter towns or other locations that draw large numbers of commuters—people who travel on a daily basis...
network run by the Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
national rail company RENFE
RENFE
Renfe Operadora is the state-owned company which operates freight and passenger trains on the 1668-mm "Iberian gauge" and 1435-mm "European gauge" networks of the Spanish national railway infrastructure company ADIF .- History :The name RENFE is derived from that of the former Spanish National...
that connects the major cities of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Valencia, and Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and the main cities of the Valencian community
Valencian Community
The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...
. Alaris services currently use ETR 490 trainsets, as well as S-120 and S-130
RENFE Class 130
The RENFE Class 130 or S-130 is a high speed dual gauge, dual voltage trainset consisting of eleven Talgo VII tilting coaches and two power cars...
units.
History
Midway through the 1990s, RENFE realised that needed to replace its old Talgo IIITalgo
Talgo is a Spanish manufacturer of railway vehicles. It is best known for a design of articulated railway passenger cars in which the wheels are mounted in pairs, but not joined by an axle, and being between rather than underneath the individual coaches...
trains which had run on the line for over thirty years. As a replacement, RENFE looked for new railcars that could run at high speeds on electric lines.
After searching throughout the ideas of multiple companies, RENFE chose a conglomeration of GEC, Alstom
Alstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
, and FIAT Ferroviaria
Fiat Ferroviaria
thumb|300px|[[FS Class E626]] locomotive, a mainstay of Italian railways starting from the 1930s.Fiat Ferroviaria was the rail division of FIAT of Italy....
as the winners of a bid to develop new trains for the network titled ETR 490, similar to the ETR 470
ETR 470
ETR 470 is an Italian high-speed tilting Electric Multiple Unit introduced in 1993 and produced in 9 units for the ItaloSwiss firm Cisalpino. They were produced by Fiat Ferroviaria ....
trains used on the Italian Cisalpino
Cisalpino
Cisalpino AG was a railway company operating international trains between Switzerland and Italy connecting Basel, Schaffhausen, Zürich, Geneva, Milan, Venice, Trieste, Livorno, and Florence...
network.
The new units were put into service on a new line between Madrid and Valencia via Albacete
Albacete
Albacete is a city and municipality in southeastern Spain, 258 km southeast of Madrid, the capital of the province of Albacete in the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. The municipality had a population of c. 169,700 in 2009....
with emphasis on high speed, quality, and comfort. Although originally known as InterCity 2000, RENFE did not believe that the name was representative of the service, RENFE decided to rename the service "Alaris." RENFE then rebranded and repainted its trainsets and other publicity to show the new logo.
Service quality
Alaris is a medium/high profile rail service, very similar to aeroplanes business class, with stewardess, restaurant/snack bar, press service, personal multimedia stations, free automobile parking and baby sitter services. Alaris machines were manufactured by Fiat Ferroviaria and then by AlstomAlstom
Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...
, and can maintain a moderate continuous speed of 200 km/h (124.3 mph).
Criticism
Despite its new and modern trains, higher focus on quality and speed, and modernity, Alaris has been criticised. Most critics point to a few main details where Alaris does not meet expectations.- Alaris only has a thirteen minute improvement over the previous train (InterCity UT-448) that used the system.
- There are only 160 seats on the new Alaris trains, while the InterCity UT-448 trains had 206 seats available in each car. This means that it takes less time for trains to be full and passengers must now make reservations beforehand to ensure that there is a seat available for them.
- Current prices for the Alaris are more expensive than those of the original rail service and features such as the BonoCity (four trips between Madrid and Valencia) have ceased to exist, therefore increasing the price that one must pay to use the service.