FS Class ETR 470

ETR 470

ETR 470 in Trenitalia livery
Manufacturer Fiat Ferroviaria (now Alstom)
Number in service 8
Specifications
Train length 236.60 m (776.2 ft)
Maximum speed 200 km/h (124 mph)
Weight 798 t (785 long tons; 880 short tons)
(normal load)
Power output 6,000 kW (8,000 hp) (maximum)
Power supply Overhead catenary
Electric system(s) 3 kV DC & 15 kV 16⅔ Hz AC
Current collection method Pantograph
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge

ETR 470 (ElettroTreno 470) is a high-speed tilting Electric Multiple Unit introduced in 1993 and produced in nine units for the ItaloSwiss firm Cisalpino. They were produced by Fiat Ferroviaria (now Alstom).

Part of the Pendolino family, it is an updated version of the ETR 460 adapted for services under lines electrified at 3 kV DC in Italy and at 15 kV 16⅔ Hz AC in Switzerland and Germany. ETR 470 trains are used for fast services between Italy and Switzerland.

Nine sets of nine coaches each were built, together with a 3-car prototype ("Train 0") which has never been used for commercial service. Since the dissolution of Cisalpino they were split between SBB (4 sets) and Trenitalia (5 sets). SBB plans to retire its 4 sets in 2014 at the latest. They are to be replaced by Stadler EC250 trains by 2019, and with ICN and ETR 610 trains in the interim.

Because of its long series of breakdowns, ETR 470 was very poorly received in Switzerland. The maintenance costs were four times higher compared to the ICN.[1] The final decision to retire the trains was taken after one of them caught fire on 17 May 2009 in Ambri.[1] The spokesperson for the Swiss Association for Transport and the Environment described them as "not worthy of the Swiss Federal Railways", while the chief executive of Swiss Federal Railways said he wanted to "put an end to this horror".[1]

Characteristics

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "The Cisalpino nears the end of the line". swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 2 December 2014.

External links

Media related to ETR 470 at Wikimedia Commons