Pendolino (from Italian Pendolo ['pɛndolo] "Pendulum" and -ino, a diminutive suffix) is an Italian family of tilting trains used in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Finland, the Czech Republic, United Kingdom,Switzerland and China. It was developed and manufactured by Fiat Ferroviaria, which was taken over by Alstom in 2002. A tilting train is a train with a tilting mechanism that enables increased speed on regular railroad tracks. ... Alstom (formerly GEC-Alsthom) (Euronext: ALO) is a large French company whose businesses are power generation and manufacturing trains (e. ... Alstom (formerly GEC-Alsthom) (Euronext: ALO) is a large French company whose businesses are power generation and manufacturing trains (e. ...

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 put into place 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 round curves designed for slower trains at higher speeds without causing undue discomfort to passengers. The 1960s decade refers to the years from January 1, 1960 to December 31, 1969, inclusive. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... Japanese designed Shinkansen 700T train on a test run on the Taiwan High Speed Rail in June 2006. ...

Canada/USA

In fact, Canada and the USA collaborated on the first true tilting train to enter on a regular service: the United Aircraft Corp. Turbo-Train. It commenced service between Montreal and Toronto as early as in 1972 for the Canadian National railways. It featured a passive tilting system located on talgo type wheel arrangements, renowned for their high stability thus reducing casualties in accidents. The power plant was a converted version of the very reliable UAC PT6 turbine engine. The coaches and engines were built in Montreal. During trial runs in Pennsylvania, the Turbo-Train has achieved truly HST speeds and North American records (285 km/h).

Then, in 1981, Canada replaced its fleet of Turbo-Trains by another tilting train, the LRC (Light, Rapid and Comfortable) built originally by Montreal Light Works and later Bombardier Transport. These trains featured a diesel powered locomotive able to cruise at 200 km/h and the wheelsets were classical bogies. The tilting mechanism was an active one and as evolved in the actual one applied on the Virgin Super-Voyagers. These locomotives are still in use.

Italy

In Italy various possibilities along these lines were explored (including one early design for fixed carriages with tilting seats). A number of prototypes were built and tested, and in 1975 a prototype Pendolino, the ETR 401, was put into public service, built by Fiat and operated by Italian State Railways. In 1987 operation began by a full fleet of updated Pendolinos (called the ETR 450), which incorporated some technologies from British Rail's ill-fated APT project. In 1993 the next generation, the ETR 460, began service. 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The Ferrovie dello Stato [State Railways] or FS is the operator of the Italian railway network. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ETR 450 (ElettroTreno 450) was the first Italian tilting train (also called Pendolino). ... The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was an unsuccesful prototype tilting train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Trenitalia ETR-460 trainset near Modane (France) The ETR-460 is a tilting EMU built by FIAT Ferroviaria (now ALSTOM) beginning from 1993 is also known as Pendolino. ...

Finland

A Finnish Pendolino in Helsinki Central Railway Station

The Finnish model, the S220, is based on the ETR 460, adapted to the specific requirements of VR (Valtionrautatiet, Finnish State Railways) and to the cold climatic conditions. The first two units were made in 1995 by Rautaruukki-Transtech, a rolling stock company now part of Spanish Talgo. Currently there are a total of 18 units operating. Image File history File linksMetadata 800px-Pendolino_Helsinki. ... Image File history File linksMetadata 800px-Pendolino_Helsinki. ... Helsinki Central railway station Helsinki Central railway station is a widely recognised landmark in central Helsinki, Finland, and the focal point of public transport in the Greater Helsinki area. ... Trenitalia ETR-460 trainset near Modane (France) The ETR-460 is a tilting EMU built by FIAT Ferroviaria (now ALSTOM) beginning from 1993 is also known as Pendolino. ... For other uses of the word VR, see VR (disambiguation). ... Rautaruukki (currently using the marketing name Ruukki) is a Finnish company, headquartered in Helsinki, which manufactures and supplies metal-based components and systems for construction and engineering purposes. ... Talgo is a Spanish manufacturer of railway vehicles. ...

The Pendolino has been conceived as an EMU (Electric Multiple Unit) to keep axle load to an extremely low level in order to allow the train to negotiate curves at a speed higher by up to 35% if compared with conventional Intercity trains (loco plus coaches). A classic Belgian multiple unit of type 74 A multiple unit (MU) is a passenger train whose carriages have their own motors, either diesel (DMUs) or electric (EMUs), and do not need to be hauled by a locomotive, and can be coupled with other similar units to operate together, in...

The electrical traction equipment, with continuous power of 4000 kW, includes GTO chopper/inverter and asynchronous motors. The tilting system in the bogie, located entirely under the body, has permitted the reorganisation of the vestibules and passenger compartment areas. The bogie-to-body connection is extremely simple and easy to make, with clear advantages for maintenance. A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. ...

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.

The trains for VR are composed of 6 vehicles: two traction units, each unit consists of two motor coaches with a 4QC/inverter/converter with four traction motors (one for each bogie), plus a trailer coach with high voltage equipment (25 kV and 50 Hz) and traction transformer, and two end coaches with aerodynamic driving cab; one of the trailer coaches (TTC) has a special featured bar section.

The Finnish Pendolinos have got a lot of bad publicity in Finland for their serious realibility issues, mostly caused by constant technical problems with their tilting system and couplers. The coupling problems have grown important when the Pendolino network has been extended, requiring coupling and uncoupling at intersection stations. Because of unreliable uncoupling the train units often end up into different places than where they should be, often resulting in Pendolinos being replaced by commuter traffic equipment.

United Kingdom

An Alstom Class 390 Pendolino in Birmingham.

British Rail Class 370 APT, the predecessor of the Class 390

In 2004 Virgin Trains in the UK began operating custom-designed Pendolino trains known as the Class 390 on its West Coast Main Line (WCML) franchise. Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 697 KB)BR Class 390, no. ... Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 697 KB)BR Class 390, no. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1000x632, 179 KB) related image Author: Max Batten http://www. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1000x632, 179 KB) related image Author: Max Batten http://www. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... Class 390 no. ... The WCML running alongside the M1 motorway at Watford Gap in Northamptonshire A Virgin Pendolino and freight train on the WCML The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important intercity railway lines in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system. ...

These trains were constructed by Alstom and are leased by Virgin Trains from Angel Trains. Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ... Angel Trains is one of the three major ROSCOs (ROlling Stock COmpany) in the United Kingdom. ...

Due to the failure of the WCML upgrade to provide in-cab signalling these units are limited in service to 125 mph (200 km/h) operation rather than their 140 mph (225 km/h) design speed. Virgin Trains are currently examining running these at 135 mph through the Trent Valley as part of their new WCML Franchise Proposal. The WCML running alongside the M1 motorway at Watford Gap in Northamptonshire A Virgin Pendolino and freight train on the WCML The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important intercity railway lines in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system. ... Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. ...

The Class 390 Pendolino are maintained by Alstom (West Coast Traincare) under contract to Virgin Trains until 2012. The main maintenance locations are Wembley, Midlands (Oxley, Wolverhampton), Manchester (Longsight), Glasgow (Polmadie), and Liverpool (Minor work only) and several "Traincare Points" along the line of route (such as Euston and Carlisle). Headquarters for West Coast Traincare moved from the former Metro-Cammell factory at Washwood Heath in Birmingham upon its closure in November 2005 to Manchester Longsight depot with some functions being based at a new office facility at Oxley depot. Wembley, until 1965 a borough in its own right, forms the northern part of the London Borough of Brent. ... Oxley is a suburb of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands. ... Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. ... This article is becoming very long. ... Glaswegian redirects here. ... Liverpool skyline. ... Facade of Euston Station, London Euston Arch: the original Euston Station, as enlarged, ca 1851 Euston station concourse Euston station (also known as London Euston), is a large railway station in Central London. ... Carlisle is a city in the far north-west of England, and is the largest urban area in Cumbria. ... Metro-Cammell logo The Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon (MCCW) was a Birmingham, England based manufacturer of railway carriages and wagons. ... Washwood Heath is an area of Birmingham, England. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ...

Virgin Trains have proposed the addition of a tenth (and possibly eleventh) car to the nine-car Class 390 trains in the near future to increase passenger capacity.

Two decades earlier British Rail had planned to bring tilting train technology to the same line with the APT project. Technical problems caused by pressure to launch the service early and lack of the political will to overcome them forced the abandonment of this early attempt, although much of the technology was used to design and build Pendolino trains. Logo of British Rail British Railways (BR), later rebranded as British Rail, ran the British railway system from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. ... The Advanced Passenger Train (APT) was an unsuccesful prototype tilting train developed by British Rail during the 1970s and early 1980s. ...

On 23 February 2007, a Virgin Trains Pendolino train was derailed near Grayrigg, Cumbria. Sir Richard Branson credited the Pendolino with saving lives in the crash, describing it to BBC News as being "built like a tank." [1] February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini (common) era. ... The current time and date is 23:19, 23 February 2007 (UTC). ... Grayrigg is a small village 5 miles away from the Cumbrian town of Kendal. ... Cumbria (IPA: ), created in 1974, is a county in the North West region of England. ... Sir Richard Branson (born July 18, 1950) a famed British entrepreneur, is best known for his widely successful Virgin brand, a banner that encompasses a variety of business organizations. ... The current BBC News logo BBC News and Current Affairs is a major arm of the BBC responsible for the corporations newsgathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online. ...

Portugal

An Alfa Pendular composition leaving the Gare do Oriente station, Lisbon

In Portugal the Pendolino is named Alfa Pendular and is operated by the Portuguese state railway company CP. It connects the cities of Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Lisbon, Albufeira and Faro, among others, and has a top speed of 220 km/h (136.7 mph). The bogies had to be redesigned for operation on Portugal's broad gauge track, and the trains were assembled by Alstom at the Portuguese Amadora plant. Image File history File links Alfa_pendular. ... Image File history File links Alfa_pendular. ... Gare do Oriente is one of the main transport hubs in Lisbon, Portugal. ... Location    - Country Portugal    - Region Lisboa  - Subregion Grande Lisboa  - District or A.R. Lisbon Mayor Carmona Rodrigues  - Party PSD Area 84. ... http://www. ... Caminhos de Ferro Portugueses (abbreviation: CP; English: Portuguese Railways) is the state railway company in Portugal. ... Great Western Railway broad gauge steam locomotives awaiting scrapping in 1892 after the conversion to standard gauge. ... Alstom (formerly GEC-Alsthom) (Euronext: ALO) is a large French company whose businesses are power generation and manufacturing trains (e. ...

Slovenia

Slovenian Railways operates a Pendolino tilting train similar to the Italian model on its main lines. The ICS links the major cities of Slovenia in one line: Koper (only in summer), Ljubljana, Zidani Most, Celje and Maribor, with a frequent service that acts as a high-speed shuttle. For further information, see InterCitySlovenija. Slovenske železnice (SŽ) (Slovenian Railways) is the state railway of Slovenia, created in 1991 from the Ljubljana Division of the former Jugoslovenske železnice -- (JŽ) - Yugoslav Railways -- after the breakup of Yugoslavia. ... Area: 311. ...   (IPA: ) is the capital and largest city in Slovenia. ... Zidani Most is a town in Slovenia and an important railway junction. ... Area: 94,9 km² Population  - males  - females 48. ... Area: 147. ... InterCitySlovenija (ICS) is a high-speed train very similar to the Pendolino and Cisalpino of Italy. ...

Czech Republic

In 2000 Fiat Ferroviaria undertook an order of construction of Czech tilting train and changed it to Pendolino. The first set was delivered in 2004 as Pendolino CD 680. While testing from Břeclav to Brno on November 18, 2004, the Pendolino reached a speed of 237 km/h and created a new Czech railway speed record. 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alstom (formerly GEC-Alsthom) (Euronext: ALO) is a large French company whose businesses are power generation and manufacturing trains (e. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... BÅ™eclav (German Lundenburg) is a town in the Czech Republic, southeast of Brno. ... Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region South Moravia Founded 1146 Area    - city 230. ... Czech rail records, dates in brackets indicate when the record was reached or when the railway infrastructure was put into operation. ...

The train was featured in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale. While in reality the Czech Pendolino does not actually operate the route, in the movie it was shown to journey from Switzerland to Montenegro. For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... Flemings commissioned image of James Bond to aid the Daily Express comic strip artists. ... Casino Royale is the 21st film in the James Bond series and the first to star Daniel Craig as MI6 agent James Bond. ... Anthem Oj, svijetla majska zoro Oh, the bright dawn of May Montenegro() on the European continent()  —  [] Capital (and largest city) Podgorica Official languages Serbian (Ijekavian dialect)1 Government Republic  -  President Filip Vujanović  -  Prime Minister Željko Å turanović Independence due to the dissolution of Serbia and Montenegro   -  Declared June 3, 2006   -  Recognised...

A Czech 680 Pendolino in Kralupy nad Vltavou.

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During the testing period, the train had problems with the Czech signalling system. The problems were said to be solved and the trains entered regular service in December 2005 between Prague and Ostrava. As of late January 2006, all five Czech Pendolino trains that had been put in service suffer from software and functional problems. (The other two of the seven trains have never entered service.) The range of problems is spanning from failing airconditioning and heating to failures of the tilting control. The supposedly ERTMS compliant control system ATLAS is not able to properly join several discrete systems each based on different software platforms. Similar problems have also been reported from Finland. Czech Railways has demanded that Alstom corrects the problems by the end of January 2006 and commissioned audit of the tendering and contracting process. Czech ministry of transportation has threatened the contract will be cancelled and the trains returned if problems are not resolved. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1950x421, 479 KB) Pendolino train at Kralupy nad Vltavou station, Czech Republic Photo taken by Miaow Miaow in August 2005. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1950x421, 479 KB) Pendolino train at Kralupy nad Vltavou station, Czech Republic Photo taken by Miaow Miaow in August 2005. ... Location of Kralupy nad Vltavou in the Czech Republic Kralupy nad Vltavou is a town in Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. ... Image File history File links Current_event_marker. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Nickname: City of a Hundred Spires Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Pavel Bém Area  - City 496 km²  (191. ... Nickname: Steel Heart of the Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Moravian-Silesian District Ostrava Founded 1267  - Mayor Petr Kajnar (ÄŒSSD) Area    - City 214 km²  (82. ... The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) is an EU-backed initiative to enhance cross-border interoperability and signalling procurement by creating a single Europe-wide standard for railway signalling. ... For other uses, see Atlas (disambiguation). ... České dráhy logo České dráhy or Czech Railways (ČD or CD) is the main railway operator of the Czech Republic and provides passenger and freight service via state owned rail tracks. ...

In December 2006 Czech Pendolino was given permission to operate in Slovakia and Austria.

Since 10 December 2006 Czech Railways operates 7 times a day route Prague-Pardubice-Olomouc-Ostrava- (SuperCity Pendolino), 2 times a day between Prague-Brno-Vienna - (SuperCity Johann Gregor Mendel and SuperCity Smetana) and once a day Prague-Brno-Bratislava - (SuperCity Slovenská strela). Nickname: City of a Hundred Spires Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Pavel Bém Area  - City 496 km²  (191. ... Pardubice (German: Pardubitz) capital of the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic on the Labe (Elbe) river. ... town hall with astronomical clock Olomouc (German Olmütz, Polish OÅ‚omuniec, Latin Eburum or Olomucium) is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. ... Nickname: Steel Heart of the Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Moravian-Silesian District Ostrava Founded 1267  - Mayor Petr Kajnar (ÄŒSSD) Area    - City 214 km²  (82. ... Nickname: City of a Hundred Spires Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Pavel Bém Area  - City 496 km²  (191. ... Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region South Moravia Founded 1146 Area    - city 230. ... Vienna (German: , see also other names) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... Gregor Johann Mendel (July 20, 1822[1] – January 6, 1884) was an Austrian[2] Augustinian priest and scientist often called the father of modern genetics for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. ... Portrait of BedÅ™ich Smetana BedÅ™ich Smetana (pronounced ; 2 March 1824 - 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer. ... Nickname: City of a Hundred Spires Motto: Praga Caput Rei publicae Location within the Czech Republic Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region Capital City of Prague Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Pavel Bém Area  - City 496 km²  (191. ... Coordinates: Country Czech Republic Region South Moravia Founded 1146 Area    - city 230. ... Bratislava (see below for other names) is the capital of Slovakia, and the countrys largest city, with a population of some 450,000. ...

The future

Currently, a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe have ordered Pendolino trainsets. For this reason, the Pendolino-type train is set to be the one with the greatest penetration in the high-speed market of Central and Eastern Europe.

China also purchased technologies from Alstom to assemble 60 sets of high speed EMU trains , which named CRH5, were based on Pendolino trains used in Finland. However, those CRH5 trains would not have tilting functions.

Technical information (Finnish trains)

• Maximum speed: 220 km/h
• Power: 4,000 kW
• Traction motors: 8 asynchronous three-phase AC
• Acceleration, 0 - 100 km/h: 57 s, 810 m (a=0.50 m/s²)
• Acceleration, 0 - 200 km/h: 193 s, 6,800 m (a=0.37 m/s²)
• Braking, 140 - 0 km/h: 39 s,750 m (a=1.01 m/s²)
• Braking, 200 - 0 km/h: 59 s, 1,650 m (a=0.94 m/s²)
• Tractive effort at rims: 163 kN
• Length: 158.9 m
• Width: 3.2 m
• Height: 3.73 m
• Weight: 328 t (originally 316 t)
• Maximum axle load: 14.3 t (originally 13.25 t)
• Wheel diameter: new 890 mm, fully worn 850 mm
• Gauge: 1,524 mm (for the Finnish version)
• Maximum tilting angle: 8°
• Total number of seats: 309 [307 + 2 H] (originally 262 + 2H)
• Maximum noise level inside: 65 dBA
• Ambient temperature range: -40 °C - +35 °C

References

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Pendolino

• ElettroTreno
• New Pendolino
• Tilting train

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... Wikimedia Commons logo by Reid Beels The Wikimedia Commons (also called Commons or Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ... ETR (ElettroTreno) is a series of italian high-speed trains. ... The name, “Pendolino”, is used to identify the family of high-speed, tilting-technology trains. ... A tilting train is a train with a tilting mechanism that enables increased speed on regular railroad tracks. ...