A full-size model of the new Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed train is making its way to InnoTrans after being officially unveiled in Italy.
The Frecciarossa 1000, which is being built by Bombardier and AnsaldoBreda, is the newest member of Bombardier’s Zefiro family of high-speed trains, known as the V300Zefiro model.
The unveiling took place in Rimini, Italy, on Sunday, August 19.
The Prime Minister of Italy, Mario Monti, attended the event along with Mauro Moretti, managing director, Ferrovie dello Stato (Italian Railways), Maurizio Manfellotto, managing director, AnsaldoBreda, and Roberto Tazzioli, chief country representative of Bombardier Transportation in Italy.
Tazzioli said: “In addition to its beautiful design, our new train is a game changer in the rail industry.
In addition to its beautiful design, our new train is a game changer in the rail industry.
“It offers not only very high speeds of up to 360 km/h, but also cost-efficiency, a capacity of up to 600 passengers, reliability, safety and durability.
“The Zefiro family also sets a new benchmark for sustainable mobility by offering the lowest energy consumption per seat of any very high speed train in the world today. This unparalleled economic and environmental performance makes high-speed rail an attractive alternative to other forms of travel.”
In September 2010, Bombardier and AnsaldoBreda won an order to deliver 50 trains, beating Alstom with a bid of 30.8 million euros per train.
The first units are already in production and track tests will take place at the end of 2012.
The Frecciarossa 1000 mock-up will travel to Berlin, Germany, to be displayed at the world’s largest rail trade show, InnoTrans, from September 18 to 21.
I wonder how long before the obligatory yellow graffiti on the front of UK trains will be dropped, just as it has in every other part of Europe? Let’s hope that the Italians would be so affronted by their cool front-end design being covered in yellow paint that they would refuse to sell it to us unless we changed our ways…