FS Class ETR 470


ETR 470 is a high-speed tilting Electric Multiple Unit introduced in 1993 and produced in nine units for the ItaloSwiss firm Cisalpino. They were produced by Fiat Ferroviaria, and could tilt up to 8°.

History

Part of the Pendolino family, it was an updated version of the ETR 460 adapted for services under lines electrified at 3 kV DC in Italy and at 15 kV 16⅔ Hz AC in Switzerland and Germany. ETR 470 trains were used for fast services between Italy and Switzerland.
Nine sets of nine coaches each were built, together with a 3-car prototype which has never been used for commercial service. Since the dissolution of Cisalpino they were split between SBB and Trenitalia. SBB planned to retire its 4 sets in 2014 at the latest. They are to be replaced by Stadler EC250 trains by 2019, and with ICN and RABe 503 trains in the interim.
Because of its long series of breakdowns, the ETR.470 was very poorly received in Switzerland. The maintenance costs were four times higher compared to the ICN. The final decision to retire the trains was taken after one of them caught fire on 17 May 2009 in Ambri. The spokesperson for the Swiss Association for Transport and Environment described them as "not worthy of the Swiss Federal Railways", while the chief executive of Swiss Federal Railways said he wanted to "put an end to this horror". After unsuccessful attempts by SBB to sell the trains, three Swiss ETR 470 trainsets were scrapped in November 2015.. ETR 470 009 owned by SBB has been leased to Trenitalia since March 31, 2017 after an Italian ETR 610 has been very seriously damaged in an accident in Lucerne on March 22, 2017.

Export

Presently, the Italian ETR.470 are used for Frecciabianca high-speed services. It was decided in 2019, that these will be used on the Athens – Thessaloniki railway line run by Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane subsidiary, TrainOSE. Units will be converted for use in Greece, the existing 3 kV DC equipment is to be replaced with 25 kV 50 Hz equipment and they will be fitted with ETCS onboard equipment. In August 2018, a similar ETR.485 unit transferred to Greece for testing purposes, in anticipation of the ETR.470 fleet's arrival.