In less than one month since their launch, four high-speed Spanish trains have been taken out of operation, because of repeated malfunction, said the Saudi Railway Organization (SRO). The Spanish firm CAF won a contract to supply five trains at a total cost of SR612 million, which were to be used as overnight passenger trains for a new 1,100 kilometer route. Engineer Abdul Aziz Al-Hugail, SRO President, held a meeting with the director of the Spanish company, who briefed him on technical reports and said that the company was working to solve the problem that caused the repeated disruption of the new trains. Al-Hugail said that a group of experts from Germany, France and Spain will assist in solving the problem. “We won't take delivery of the trains unless we are sure they are 100 percent safe,” he said. He said the Spanish manufacturers of the CAF trains have been told that the current problems are unacceptable and they have been asked to repair the technical defects immediately. Initial checks by the train manufacturers technical team have found that the trains' computerizedprogramming system needs to be adjusted to suit the local environment. He went on to describe how the trains have encountered problems from the very first day. Recently a train bound for Hofuf had to be stopped due to the air conditioning malfunctioning. __
