Frecciarossa 1000

Frecciarossa 1000

Company type	Train service
Industry	Rail transport
Predecessor	AnsaldoBreda, Bombardier Transportation
Founded	2008
Headquarters	Italy, Spain
Area served	Italy, Spain, France
Key people	Mike Robinson (design lead), Marco Sacchi (head of engineering at Hitachi Rail Italy)
Products	High-speed trains (ETR 1000, S 109 trainsets)
Owner	Trenitalia, Iryo (ILSA)

The Frecciarossa 1000 represents a high-speed train service operated by Italy’s national railway company Trenitalia and the Spanish private operator Iryo. Its development was a collaborative effort between the Italian manufacturer Hitachi Rail Italy (previously known as AnsaldoBreda) and the international conglomerate Alstom (originally Bombardier Transportation), with both companies sharing design and production duties.

Initiated in 2008, the design process was guided by Mike Robinson alongside Gruppo Bertone, utilizing existing platforms such as Bombardier’s Zefiro and AnsaldoBreda’s V250 models. Tailored specifically to meet Trenitalia’s tender requirements, the Frecciarossa 1000 was chosen in 2010 with an initial procurement of 50 trainsets. At its debut, it held the distinction of being the fastest series-produced train across Europe.

Initial development

During the mid-2000s, Italy’s state railway company Ferrovie dello Stato aimed to introduce a new very-high-speed train for its Eurostar Alta Velocità Frecciarossa routes spanning Turin, Milan, Florence, Rome, and Naples. Addressing this need, Italian manufacturer AnsaldoBreda teamed up with multinational firm Bombardier Transportation in 2008 to create an appropriate train model, concentrating design efforts at Bombardier’s facility in Hennigsdorf.

The final concept featured an eight-car, non-articulated single-level train with distributed traction, designed for speeds up to , drawing on Bombardier’s Zefiro and AnsaldoBreda’s V250 designs. Bombardier took charge of conceptual and detailed engineering, propulsion systems, bogies, certification processes, testing, and commissioning of initial units. Meanwhile, AnsaldoBreda oversaw industrial design aspects such as exterior bodywork, interior fittings, signalling integration, final assembly, and serial production startup. Both companies cooperated closely on detailed engineering tasks.

The aesthetic styling was created by Italian firm Gruppo Bertone, aiming to convey elegance and velocity while adhering to international standards concerning driver visibility, crashworthiness, and lighting performance. Wind tunnel experiments verified compliance with aerodynamic drag limits and crosswind stability criteria. The train incorporated an active suspension mechanism to enhance ride quality.

Known initially as the Zefiro 300, the train was entered into Ferrovie dello Stato’s tender for 50 high-speed trainsets. Requirements mandated conformity with European high-speed technical regulations, commercial operation at , initial service speeds of , and test runs reaching . Additionally, the train had to facilitate condition-based maintenance practices and be certified for operation in seven European countries: Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland.

Since the tender specified a maximum speed beyond the original design parameters, a six-month redesign phase was undertaken by AnsaldoBreda’s Pistoia plant. This revision involved reengineering critical components including bogies, power electronics, control systems, and pantographs. Although equipped with ERTMS Level 2 alongside Italy’s traditional signalling system, the train was also passively prepared for integration with other signalling technologies outlined in the contract.

Tender outcome and rollout

In August 2010, Trenitalia granted the contract to the Bombardier/Ansaldo consortium, with the initial trainset anticipated to enter service by 2013. Their bid of €30.8 million per train undercut the €35 million proposed by the French company Alstom. The overall contract was valued at €1.54 billion, with Bombardier’s portion amounting to €654 million. Marco Sacchi, head of engineering at Hitachi Rail Italy, attributed the successful award to the train’s uniquely engineered design features that appealed to Trenitalia. The joint venture immediately proceeded to detailed design work.

By August 2012, a full-scale prototype was presented in Rimini by Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, and the train was officially named Frecciarossa 1000. On 26 March 2013, the first trainset, called Pietro Mennea in honor of the Italian 200m world record holder, was unveiled at Ansaldo-Breda’s manufacturing site in Pistoia.

Comprehensive testing certified the train for operation on Italy’s high-speed lines at speeds reaching . Trials commenced in August 2013 along the Genoa-Savona route before progressing to nighttime runs between Milan and Bologna. Testing concluded successfully on 25 April 2015, marked by a ceremonial inaugural journey from Milan to Rome attended by dignitaries including Italian President Sergio Mattarella.

Into service

Commercial operations for the ETR 1000 started in June 2015, coinciding with Expo 2015. Bombardier noted that Trenitalia experienced its smoothest rollout of a new train model ever, meeting all reliability benchmarks within just three months. By September 2016, 36 units were actively serving passengers, with production reaching a pace of two trains per week.

The introduction of the ETR 1000 enabled Trenitalia to reassign existing ETR 500 trains to other routes such as Milan–Venice and along the Adriatic coast. FS president Marcello Messori emphasized that Frecciarossa 1000 strengthens Trenitalia’s position in the global high-speed rail market, with ongoing certification efforts for operation in France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In October 2015, initial talks began about launching an open access high-speed service between Paris and Brussels, potentially establishing the first international corridor for the ETR 1000-Frecciarossa.

During testing on 26 November 2015, an eight-car ETR 1000-Frecciarossa set achieved a speed of ; however, commercial services remain capped at , which is the maximum permitted on Italy’s high-speed network. In February 2016, a top speed of was recorded on the Torino-Milano line. By May 2018, Italian regulators confirmed that no further speed trials would take place and that the speed limit would stay at .

After receiving approval from French authorities in 2019, Frecciarossa 1000 operations between Paris and Milan began in December 2021.

Spain

In 2022, the Spanish rail operator Iryo, owned by ILSA (Intermodalidad de Levante S.A.), commenced operations utilizing a fleet of twenty S 109 trainsets, which share similarities with the Italian Frecciarossa 1000 models. However, unlike their Italian counterparts, Iryo's S 109 trains do not feature an executive class seating option.

Incidents

On 6 February 2020, unit number 21 experienced a derailment at Livraga (Lodi) on the Milan-Bologna high-speed route during its first run of the day, leading to the deaths of two drivers and causing injuries to 31 passengers.

See also

• HS2 rolling stock – a Zefiro V300 derivative designed for the UK's High Speed 2
• Siemens Velaro
• CAF Oaris
• Alstom AGV

External links

• Official documentation and press releases