Frecciarossa

Frecciarossa is a high-speed train of the Italian national train operator, Trenitalia. The name was introduced in 2012 after it had previously been known as Eurostar Italia. Frecciarossa trains operate at speeds of up to 300 km/h (190 mph). The name means Red Arrow in English. Frecciarossa is the premier service of Trenitalia and competes with italo, operated by Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori.

Routes

Rolling stock

Current limitations on the tracks set at 300 km/h (190 mph) the maximum operating speed of the trains. Along with the development of ETR 1000 by AnsaldoBreda and Bombardier Transportation (which is designed to operate commercially at 360 km/h (220 mph), with a technical top speed of over 400 km/h (250 mph)), Rete Ferroviaria Italiana is working on the necessary updates to allow trains to speed up to 360 km/h (220 mph).

Frecciarossa 1000

The Frecciarossa 1000, also known as the ETR.1000 (Trenitalia) is a high-speed train developed by AnsaldoBreda and Bombardier Transportation and designed by Bertone. Fifty trainsets were ordered by Trenitalia in 2010.

History and design

The Zefiro 300 was submitted by Bombardier Transportation and AnsaldoBreda as a response to Ferrovie dello Stato's tender for 50 new high-speed trainsets; the design, a 200 m long eight car non-articulated single decker train with distributed traction, was based on elements of Bombardier Transportation's Zefiro and AnsaldoBreda's V250 train designs. Initial specifications were for a train meeting European high-speed technical standards, with a design commercial speed of 360 km/h (220 mph), initially operated at 300 km/h (190 mph), and to be tested to 400 km/h (250 mph).

The Trenitalia contract was awarded to the Bombardier/Ansaldo joint-venture in August 2010, for delivery into service in 2013. The bid was less expensive at €30.8m per train than the €35m per train cost given by the other bidder, Alstom. The contract value was €1.54bn of which Bombardier's share was €654m.