The Renfe Class 490, also known as the ETR 490, 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 o ...

constructed by

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

and

Fiat Ferroviaria Alstom Ferroviaria S.p.A., formerly known as 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 Sav ...

and operated by

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

rail company

Renfe Renfe (, ), officially Renfe-Operadora, is Spain's national state-owned railway company. It was created in 2005 upon the split of the former Spanish National Railway Network (RENFE) into the Administrador de Infraestructuras Ferroviarias ( ...

on its

Alaris Alaris was the brand name of the regional rail network run by the Spain, Spanish national rail company Renfe Operadora that connected the major cities of Madrid and Valencia, Spain, Valencia, and Barcelona and the main cities of the Valencian co ...

long-distance services.. Since the introduction of the Alaris service, only ETR 490 units have been used for this service. Therefore, these trainsets are often known as ''Alaris'' themselves. The units were the first actively tilting units to go into regular service in Spain.. Unlike most other members of the

Pendolino Pendolino (from Italian language, Italian "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, ...

rail family, the ETR 490 trainset is composed of only three cars: two motors vehicles, with driving cabs, and a trailer car in the centre. (This arrangement is shared with the

SŽ series 310 SŽ series 310 is a high-speed tilting EMU used on the InterCitySlovenija premium train service in Slovenia, operated by Slovenske železnice since September 24, 2000. It is based on the Italian ETR 460 commonly known as Pendolino. The train is ...

in Slovenia, which are fundamentally the same train as the class 490, but built to

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

) in Its motor system is similar to that of an

because its

pantograph A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a Linkage (mechanical), mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a se ...

is not located on a locomotive. The motor cars on either end of the train contain a pair of motor bogies, with one asynchronous motors per bogie. Static and other converters are also located underneath the motor cars. The central passenger car is divided into two spaces: half is passenger seating while the other part is a bar and restaurant. A section of this car is also dedicated to people with mobility and accessibility impairments. The dimensions of the ETR 490 are reduced compared to its Italian model. These dimensions favour aerodynamic stability and speed. The cars are also built out of lighter materials that allow the train to move faster and put less stress on the tracks. The power consumption of the Alaris trainset is considerably less than the Italian

ETR 460 The ETR 460 is an electric multiple unit (EMU) tilting train produced by FIAT Ferroviaria (now Alstom Ferroviaria) since 1993. It is also known as the Pendolino after the family of trains from which it comes. The ETR 460 is a development of th ...

, almost reduced by one third. The tilting mechanism of the ETR 490 is quite similar to that of the second and third generation

series, controlled by

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

s, devices measuring oscillation, and speedometers. The tilt is limited to eight degrees when fully activated when compared to a horizontal surface. Disk brakes control pneumatic and rheostatic braking.

References

External links

Technical details
Renfe high-speed trains Pendolino Electric multiple units of Spain Alstom multiple units Fiat Ferroviaria Train-related introductions in 1999 3000 V DC multiple units {{Spain-rail-transport-stub