Roma - Milano, Roma - Torino, Roma - Firenze - Genova - Savona, Roma - Venezia, Roma - Verona - Bolzano, Roma - Bari - Lecce, Roma - Napoli - Salerno, Roma - Potenza - Taranto, Roma - Reggio Calabria, Roma Perugia, Roma - Ancona, Roma - Rimini, Roma - La Spezia, Roma - Vicenza, Milano - Ancona - Pescara.
Specifications
Train length
233.9 m (767 ft 5 in)
Maximum speed
280 km/h (174 mph) (design) 250 km/h (155 mph) (service)
The Pendolino project was started in the 1970s by FIAT Ferroviaria. Development included a number of prototypes, the last of which was the ETR 401. This prototype was followed by the ETR 450 series units. The first train entered service on between Rome and Milan in 1988.
Every train is made up of 9 units. The trains can reach a maximum speed of 280 km/h (174 mph), service top speed was 250 km/h (155 mph). The ETR 450 were in use on the Rome-Bari, Rome-Ancona-Rimini and Genoa-Florence - Rome lines. It was relegated to lower services with the introduction of the next generation of Pendolino trains (ETR 460, ETR 480) and non-tilting high-speed trains (ETR 500).
In 2004, shortage of gyroscopic tilting controls (now out of production by British Aerospace) resulted in a decision to deactivate the tilting mechanism in the ETR 450. This necessitated a reclassification of the ETR 450, placing it in the same category as most conventional passenger rail, and requiring a decrease in its speed on turns. Overall top speed was also reduced to 200 km/h (124 mph). Subsequent years would see the ETR 450 transferred from high speed lines to use in long-distance conventional lines.
In December 2014, the last of the ETR 450 trains were removed from service, the later years of the model marked by operational delays and maintenance.[1]
