[16] It was instructed to produce a style that accentuated its elegance and speed, but would also conform with various international railway standards, such as driver visibility, crash protection, and headlight functionality.

Bertone's design was reviewed by the team and subject to various tests, including the use of a wind tunnel, which proved it to produce compliant drag coefficients and crosswind stability levels.

[17] Other requirements included the train being suitable for a condition-based maintenance programme, while it was capable of being operated across seven different European countries, specifically the railway systems of Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland.

[16] Reportedly, the new top speed required a detailed reexamination of the design, and in some cases the redesign, to be performed for various elements of the train, including the bogies, power and control systems and pantograph.

[19][20] Marco Sacchi, Hitachi Rail Italy's head of engineering, attributed the outcome as having been a result of the specially-developed solutions involved in the train's design that had gained Trenitalia's favour.

On 26 March 2013, the first trainset was unveiled during a public ceremony at the Ansaldo-Breda facilities in Pistoia; this train was formally named Pietro Mennea, in memory of the Italian world record holder of the 200 metres track sprint event from 1979 to 1996, who had died five days earlier.

To mark the occasion, a special inaugural service featuring various high-profile guests, including the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, was performed between Milan and Rome.

[24] Early on, it was also declared by FS president Marcello Messori that the Frecciarossa 1000 enables Trenitalia to compete in the international high-speed market, and that it would be approved for operation in France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

[22] On 28 October 2015, Trenitalia acknowledged that it was holding preliminary discussions between its suppliers and regulatory bodies regarding its interest in the prospective launch of an open access high speed service between Paris and Brussels; Pietro Diamantini of FS Group's Passenger Division stated that it could be the first international corridor on which the ETR 1000-Frecciarossa would be deployed.

[28][29] In 2022, the Spanish railway company Iryo (owned by ILSA, Intermodalidad de Levante S.A.) began service, having ordered a fleet of twenty S 109 trainsets similar to the Italian units ETR 1000-Frecciarossa.