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 (operated by Czech railways), the UK, the US, Switzerland, China, and Greece. It was also used in Russia from December 12, 2010, until March 26, 2022. Based on the design of the Italian ETR 401, it was further developed and manufactured by Fiat Ferroviaria, which was later acquired by Alstom in 2000. The idea of a tilting train became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, when various rail operators, impressed by the high-speed rail services being introduced in France and Japan, wondered how they could similarly speed up travel without building a dedicated parallel rail network (as those two countries were doing). By tilting, the train could go around curves designed for slower trains at higher speeds without causing undue discomfort to passengers. Another example of a tilting train, successive to the Pendolino, was the British Rail Class 370.
Current use
Italy
In Italy, various possibilities were explored (including one early design for fixed carriages with tilting seats). A number of prototypes were built and tested, including an automotrice (self-propelled) derived from ALn 668 diesel car and provided with tilting seats. The first working prototype using a tilting carbody was ETR Y 0160, an electrically powered car launched by Fiat in 1969. This was the first to be christened Pendolino. It led to the construction of a whole EMU in 1975, the ETR 401, built in two units by FIAT. One was put into public service on 2 July 1976 on the Rome-Ancona (later extended to Rimini) line, operated by Italian State Railways. Between Roma and Ancona (km. 295) the train took 2 hours and 50 minutes while the ordinary trains took 3 hours and 30 minutes. The train had four cars and was mostly considered a travelling laboratory for the new technology. The second unit was adapted for service to the broad gauge Renfe Spanish lines.
In 1982, FS retired the ETR 401 from service, due to high maintenance cost, and FIAT transformed it in a train-laboratory, to test the parts for the successor of the ETR 401, ETR 450. After 1988, the trainset went around Europe to demonstrate the greatness of the tilting revolutionary technology and between 1994 and 2001 it was utilised as a charter train. In 2001 the ETR 401 was put aside in Ancona and since 2013, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first official pendolino service, it has been partly restored. On 29 May 1988, the ETR 450 became the first pendolino to enter in a high-speed regular service in the world. The new train was similar to its predecessor, utilising many electronic parts such as the chopper and the automatic gear. Characterized by a nine-car configuration, the 15 ETR 450 trainsets could run the Rome-Milan line in under four hours, at speeds up to 250 km/h (160 mph), with a comfort level same as the best TEE's cars at the speed of 180–200 km/h (110–120 mph). Passenger numbers increased from 220,000 in 1988 to 2.2 million in 1993. In 1994, the next generation, the ETR 460, styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro, began service. Though plagued by technical teething problems, the ETR 460 introduced several innovations, such as more powerful AC asynchronous motors. 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. The bogie-to-body connection is extremely simple and easy to make, with clear advantages for maintenance.
ETR 460 keeps axle load to an extremely low level (14.5 ton/axle) to allow the train to negotiate curves up to 35% faster than conventional intercity trains (loco plus coaches). The body, which exploits large aluminium extrusion technology, has substantial modularity and allows for extremely low axle weight, whilst fully respecting the highest safety standards, and allows the best exploitation of the space with different loading gauges. Fiat Ferroviaria built only ten ETR 460 trainsets. Improved versions include nine ETR 470 built for the Italo-Swiss Cisalpino company and 15 ETR 480 / 485 used by Trenitalia under AC lines such as those in France and Switzerland. A total of 34 EMUs of the ETR 460/470/480 - 485 series were built. Fiat Ferroviaria was sold to Alstom in 2000. The development of the Pendolino technology continued in Alstom's Italian factories and the next generation, the New Pendolino, was delivered to Trenitalia and Cisalpino, as the ETR 600 and the ETR 610, from 2006.
Spain Even before the first Pendolino EMU was built in Italy, in 1972, Fiat and Renfe signed an agreement for cooperation in tilting-train development. The first fruit of the cooperation was the equipment of a Renfe Class 432 EMU with the active tilting suspension in September 1972. 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. The four-car train had a commercial top speed of 180 km/h (110 mph) and achieved a then speed record for Spain of 206 km/h (128 mph) on 6 May 1987. However, the train remained a unique specimen, as Renfe favoured the entirely domestic Talgo Pendular, a tilting train with passive suspension introduced in 1980. After revenue service in 1979–1982, the train was used for charter and test runs.
Two decades later, to speed up services along its Madrid-Valencia conventional line, Renfe ordered ten Pendolini in 1996. The trains, based on the ETR 460 and ETR 470, were delivered by a joint consortium of Fiat Ferroviaria and GEC-Alsthom from 1998 as Renfe Class 490. The three-car trains are suited for 220 km/h (140 mph) on Renfe's conventional lines electrified with 3 kV DC. The Class 490 took up the new Madrid-Valencia Alaris services in 1999. 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.
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