Alfa Pendular
Alfa Pendular is the name of the Pendolino high-speed tilting train of Portuguese state railway company CP. It connects the cities of Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Lisbon, Albufeira and Faro, among others at speeds of up to 220 kilometres per hour (137 mph).
The trains were assembled in Portugal by ADtranz at the former Sorefame works at Amadora, based on contracting partnership between Fiat-Ferroviaria as the main contractor and ADtranz and Siemens as the main subcontractors.
Description
The Alfa Pendular high speed train is a six car electric multiple unit (EMU), which is derived from and closely resembles the Giugiaro designed Italian Fiat-Ferroviaria ETR 480 Pendolino train. The bogies had to be redesigned to operate on Portugal's 1,668 mm (5 ft 5 21⁄32 in) Iberian gauge track.
There are 8 traction motors, installed on all but the two middle vehicles of the train, developing 4.0 megawatts (5,400 hp). This M-M-T-T-M-M arrangement spreads the weight of the train, giving it a weight of only 13.5 tonnes (13.3 long tons; 14.9 short tons) per axle, which helps its cornering ability at high speed.
