The ETR 460 is an

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number ...

(EMU)

tilting train A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train (or other vehicle) rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide ab ...

produced by

FIAT Ferroviaria Alstom Ferroviaria S.p.A., former Fiat Ferroviaria S.p.A., is the Italian division of Alstom. Fiat Ferroviaria S.p.A. was the rail division of automobile manufacturer Fiat. It was founded in 1880 as Società Nazionale Officine di Savigliano.

(now

Alstom Alstom SA is a French multinational corporation, multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the A ...

Ferroviaria) since 1993. It is also known as the

Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian ''pendolo'' "pendulum", and ''-ino,'' a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the UK, the US, ...

after the family of trains from which it comes. The ETR 460 is a development of the

ETR 450 ETR 450 (''ElettroTrenoRapido 450'') was the first series Italian tilting train (also called Pendolino). History The Pendolino project was started in the 1970s by FIAT Ferroviaria. Development included a number of prototypes, the last of which ...

, a Pendolino EMU developed in the 1970s, being characterized by improved layout, electrical and electronic systems, and improved comfort. Maximum speed remains unchanged at . The ETR 460 spawned two similar types of Pendolinos: the

ETR 470 ETR 470 (''ElettroTreno 470'') is a high-speed tilting electric multiple unit, which is now only operated by the Greek-Italian private company, Hellenic Train. Introduced in September 1996, nine units were built for the Italo-Swiss firm Cisa ...

and the

ETR 480 The ETR 480 is a tilting Electric Multiple Unit built by Fiat Ferroviaria (now Alstom Ferroviaria) since 1993, It is also known as Pendolino. It was developed from the first new-generation Pendolino, the ETR 460. The main difference between ETR 46 ...

. The main difference between the versions is that the 460 runs only on 3 kV DC, the 470 on 3 kV DC and 15 kV AC, and the 480 on 3 kV DC and 25 kV AC (used on new high-speed railways in Italy). Three sets were modified to be capable of additionally running on 1.5 kV DC for use on Milan-

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

services, but have been all re-converted to the ETR 460 standard and renamed ETR 463. The British

class 390 The British Rail Class 390 ''Pendolino'' is a type of electric high-speed passenger train operated by Avanti West Coast in the United Kingdom, leased from Angel Trains. They are electric multiple units using Fiat Ferroviaria's tilting train Pe ...

, the Slovenian series 310, the Portuguese

Alfa Pendular Alfa Pendular is the name of the flagship Pendolino high-speed tilting train of Portuguese state railway company CP. It connects the cities of Guimarães, Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Lisbon, Albufeira and Faro, among others at spe ...

, the Finnish Sm3 and the Spanish Alaris series were all derived from the ETR 460. The trainset, designed by

Giorgetto Giugiaro Giorgetto Giugiaro (; born 7 August 1938) is an Italian automotive designer. He has worked on supercars and popular everyday vehicles. He was born in Garessio, Cuneo, Piedmont. Giugiaro was named Car Designer of the Century in 1999 and inducted ...

, is used by

Trenitalia Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government, the company was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail transp ...

for their

Frecciabianca ''Frecciabianca'' is a regional high-speed train of the Italian national train operator, Trenitalia, and a member of the train category Le Frecce. The name, which means "white arrow", was introduced in 2011 after it had previously been know ...

service on several routes across Italy. The trainset has the ability to tilt by up to 8° when taking corners so as to reduce the effect of

centrifugal force In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force (also called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference. It is directed away from an axis which is paralle ...

on the passengers. The passengers remain comfortable even if the train fully takes advantage of the characteristics of the track thanks to the lightness of the construction (only / axle). Use of the train does not demand particular modifications to the railroad but it is expensive in terms of maintenance of the rolling stock due to the complexity of the tilting system. The

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...

tilting system it is governed by two

gyroscope A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rot ...

s located in the lead cars. The curve is found on the base of the elevation of the external track. ETR 460s are provided with 12 three-phase asynchronous motors (compared to the 16 in the ETR 450) located in all cars, in order to improve cornering capability. The motors are controlled by GTO-VVVF inverters, with a total power of some 6 MW. Electric braking is of rheostatic type, with the possibility of

energy recovery Energy recovery includes any technique or method of minimizing the input of energy to an overall system by the exchange of energy from one sub-system of the overall system with another. The energy can be in any form in either subsystem, but mo ...

at some speeds while the mechanical braking system uses

disc brake A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to h ...

s, commanded by an electro-pneumatic system called Wabcontrol. ETR 460s can carry up to 480 passengers. Configuration includes two head coaches, 6 intermediate passenger coaches and a bar - restaurant coach.

External links

ETR 460 & ETR 480 Photos
{{High-speed rail Pendolino High-speed trains of Italy ETR 460 Train-related introductions in 1993 Fiat Ferroviaria Passenger trains running at least at 250 km/h in commercial operations

See also

External links