Pendolino
Pendolino (from Italian pendolo [ˈpɛndolo] "pendulum", and -ino, a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of high-speed tilting trains (and non-tilting) used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia (Czech railways are operating), the UK, the US, Switzerland, China, and Greece.
A number of prototypes were built and tested, including an automotrice (self-propelled) derived from ALn 668 diesel car and provided with tilting seats.
One was put into public service on 2 July 1976 on the Rome-Ancona (later extended to Rimini) line, operated by Italian State Railways.
Further, the pistons actuating the anti-tilting action were placed in the bogie instead of on the carbody sides: this permitted the reorganisation of the vestibules and passenger compartment areas, improving comfort.
Even before the first Pendolino EMU was built in Italy, in 1972, Fiat and Renfe signed an agreement for cooperation in tilting-train development.
After successful tests, Spanish trainmaker CAF and Fiat built a prototype similar to the ETR 401, which was delivered in 1976 as Renfe Class 443, nicknamed Platanito (Little banana) for its yellow livery.
[3] With growing demand, the capacity of the Class 490 was no longer sufficient, and from February 2008, the trains were transferred to the Corredor Mediterráneo line between Valencia and Barcelona.
For medium-distance services along its high-speed lines, Renfe ordered a non-tilting variant of the Pendolino, based on the ETR 480, in 2001.
The 20 four-car trains with a service top speed of 250 km/h (160 mph) were built jointly by Alstom and CAF and delivered as the Renfe Class 104.
Then in 1987, DB commissioned a study on whether electrification or purchasing diesel tilting trains would be the better option for the Nuremberg-Hof line, and decided for the latter.
The two-car trains with a top speed of 160 km/h (99 mph) were produced by a consortium of five German companies and Fiat Ferroviaria.
However, for the 230 km/h (140 mph) electric ICE T trains ordered in 1994 for service on conventional lines, Pendolino technology was chosen again.
The low reliability of the timetable and of the ETR 470 has led SBB and Trenitalia to always have a reserve train ready at each terminus of the Milan-Zürich route.
Sm3 trains operate from Helsinki to the cities of Turku, Tampere, Jyväskylä, Oulu, Kouvola, Joensuu and Vaasa.
The motors deliver a continuous power of 4,000 kW (5,400 hp) and propel the train at a maximum speed of 220 km/h (140 mph).
The Sm3 has received a lot of bad publicity in Finland for its reliability issues, mostly caused by technical problems in cold weather[12] with the tilting system and couplers.
VR has tried to mitigate the problem by coupling trains only at termini instead of intermediate stations and switching the tilting system off during winter.
[citation needed] In Portugal the Pendolino is named Alfa Pendular and is operated by the Portuguese state railway company CP.
It connects the cities of Guimarães, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Lisbon, Albufeira and Faro, among others, and has a top speed of 220 km/h (140 mph).
Based on the ETR 460 the Portuguese Pendolino differs mainly from its predecessor from the carbody width that takes advantage of the Iberian gauge 1,668 mm (5 ft 5+21⁄32 in).
[14] Until April 2008, once per day the route from Maribor to Ljubljana was extended as international train to Venice via Monfalcone serving Trieste.
[27] In 1995 consortium consisting of ČKD, MSV Studénka, FIAT Ferroviaria and Siemens won tender for the construction of ten tilting trains for the Czech Railways ČD, intended for international service Berlin - Prague - Vienna.
After ČKD bankruptcy in 2000, Alstom (as the new owner of FIAT Ferroviaria) took over whole order, reducing number of sets to seven and raising total price,[28] while provided an improved version of ETR 470, equipped to work on 25 kV 50 Hz AC, 15 kV 16.7 Hz AC and 3,000 V DC, thus suitable to operate in Germany, Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
[31] However, certification for international operation is not seen as a priority, as the trains are restricted to domestic services for an initial ten years under the terms of a grant from the EU Cohesion Fund which covered 22% of the project cost.
The tests had not been performed by May, and PKP announced that Alstom had failed to meet the contract terms and would be charged penalties as of 6 May.
[49][50] In August 2016, Amtrak and Alstom unveiled the new Avelia Liberty that will take passengers between Washington, D.C., and Boston as part of a Northeast Corridor rehabilitation project starting in 2021, replacing the aged Acela Express.
[51] The train has safety features that comply with Federal Railroad Administration standards, along with greater comfort, more capacity, built in Wi-Fi, Tiltronix, and with speeds up to 180 mph or 290 km/h.
Karelian Trains, a 50-50 joint venture between Finnish VR and Russian Railways, operated four 1522 mm gauge seven-car Pendolinos for use on 220 km/h (140 mph) Saint Petersburg–Helsinki services.
According to VR's assessment, the former Allegro trains will enter service on domestic Finnish routes approximately in 2025 after undergoing repairs.
[55] The Ukrainian Railways announced its intent to buy seven Pendolinos for the UEFA Euro 2012 in 2008, but failed to secure the financing later on.
