The standoff between Renfe and Iryo over access to heavy maintenance facilities has escalated to the courts. The state operator has lodged an appeal with the Audiencia Nacional against the CNMC (the Spanish regulator) ruling requiring it to open its depots to its competitor for heavy maintenance of the latter’s rolling stock. Renfe not only disputes the substance of the measure but also contends that the regulator has gone further than Iryo itself had originally requested.
Bogies: the technical trigger
The dispute has a very specific technical origin. The Class 109 — Hitachi-Alstom ETR1000s maintained by Hitachi Rail — are approaching three million kilometres in service since entering operation in 2022. This milestone triggers a so-called R2 overhaul, which falls under the category of heavy maintenance. One of the most demanding tasks involved is the removal, overhaul, and refitting of bogies, some of which incorporate traction equipment.
To carry out this work, Iryo requires facilities that, in Spain, are held exclusively by Renfe: the Bases de Mantenimiento Integral (BMI) at La Sagra, near Toledo, and Valladolid. The two operators negotiated for eighteen months — from the summer of 2024 — without reaching a formal agreement. When a deal appeared imminent, Renfe’s management halted the process. Iryo then referred the matter to the CNMC, which in March 2026 partially upheld its application and set a ten-day deadline for Renfe to open La Sagra.
A ruling Renfe calls arbitrary
The most contentious aspect of the dispute is not simply the obligation to open the depots, but the scope of what the regulator has ordered. Iryo had originally sought, as an interim measure, access to a bogie drop pit at La Sagra — or at the Santa Catalina depot — on a self-provision basis, using the maintenance contractor’s own staff (Hitachi Rail). The CNMC rejected that specific request but instead imposed considerably broader measures: full access to La Sagra for bogie removal and installation, use of facilities and equipment, an obligation on Renfe either to overhaul the bogies itself or to permit self-provision, and the setting of economic terms and timescales.
Renfe has described the ruling as “absolutely arbitrary”, arguing that it imposes obligations that were “never offered nor negotiated” with Iryo. On that basis, the company — chaired by Álvaro Fernández Heredia — filed the appeal with the Audiencia Nacional, seeking an interim suspension of the measure. The court initially declined to impose urgent measures without hearing the opposing party, though it opened a separate set of proceedings to examine the substantive issues. In parallel, the CNMC has declined to suspend its own ruling, which it considers enforceable unless and until a court rules otherwise.
The 7% dispute
The technical debate centres on the depot capacity that Iryo would occupy. The Italian-Spanish operator argues that the space required at La Sagra represents approximately 7% of total capacity, adding that the depot does not operate on three full shifts or at weekends. This leaves sufficient margin to accommodate the heavy maintenance of its fleet.
Renfe rejects that calculation as “misleading”. It argues that the La Sagra BMI has eight tracks, but not all are compatible with the operations required for the Class 109 trains. Once incompatible capacity is excluded, the state operator contends, the effective occupancy would exceed 10% of the genuinely available capacity — not the 7% cited by Iryo. Furthermore, the only heavy maintenance provision that Renfe includes in its own public capacity statement is 1% at the Valladolid BMI. The depots, the public operator insists, are already working “at capacity”, with no margin for contingencies or additional workloads.
Losses of up to €60 million
Renfe has put figures to the potential consequences: opening the depots to Iryo could result in losses exceeding €60 million per year. With reduced maintenance capacity for its own fleet, the company would be forced to withdraw trains from service, cutting capacity on high-demand corridors.
The most exposed services would be the Madrid–Barcelona high-speed route, operated by Class 103 trainsets; the Atlantic Corridor, Huelva, and the Basque Country routes, served by Classes 120 and 121; and Avant regional services, in particular the Valladolid–Madrid service — Spain’s busiest — operated with Class 730 sets. Renfe has estimated the potential reduction at 1.25 million seats across those corridors. Several of these services operate under Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts, adding a broader public-interest dimension to the dispute.
No depot of its own, and the clock ticking
Underlying the entire dispute is a structural vulnerability on Iryo’s part. When the operator — in which Trenitalia holds 51%, Globalvia 24%, and OFL/Air Nostrum shareholders 25% — obtained its licence to operate in Spain following the liberalisation of 2021, the construction of a purpose-built maintenance depot was included in its business plan. That project has not been realised, leaving the company without second-level maintenance facilities on Spanish territory and with Renfe as the only available provider.
Should the Audiencia Nacional uphold the state operator’s position, Iryo would have to transfer its trainsets to Italy for overhaul. The process would involve hauling the units through France, as the Class 109 is not type-approved to operate over the French or Italian rail networks. Each trainset would be out of service for approximately two months, and Iryo has estimated the additional cost at €17 million. By contrast, Ouigo had already factored the transfer of its multiple units to SNCF facilities in France into its maintenance plan, with a somewhat shorter turnaround time.
The legal framework under scrutiny
At the heart of the legal dispute lies the interpretation of the Ley del Sector Ferroviario (Railway Sector Act). Renfe argues that the legislation requires non-discriminatory access to essential facilities for light maintenance, but does not impose an obligation to provide heavy maintenance services to other operators. Without a signed contract and without an explicit statutory obligation, the public company considers that the CNMC ruling lacks the legal basis to compel it to open its workshops.
Iryo, however, points out that Renfe markets heavy maintenance services for third parties on its own website — a fact the regulator itself cited in its rulings. The CNMC, for its part, has consistently favoured a broad interpretation of access to essential facilities where this is necessary to ensure service continuity in a liberalised market.
The next chapter will be written by the Audiencia Nacional.