Hitachi Rail has signed a €861m ($920m) deal with Italian rail operator Trenitalia for the construction of 30 trains for use on the country’s high-speed rail network.
The agreement, which also includes a €287m option for ten more high-speed trains, will see the ETR1000 trains built at the manufacturer’s Italian factories in Naples and Pistoia, with the first train set to be delivered in early 2026.
Luca D’Aquila, CEO of Hitachi Rail Italy and COO of the Hitachi Rail Group, said: “This new contract confirms our commitment, as a partner of Trenitalia and Ferrovie Dello Stato Italiane Group, in offering safe, innovative, comfortable and green mobility solutions, further improving connections across Italy and from Italy to Europe.”
Trenitalia’s newest contract builds upon Hitachi’s previous delivery of 58 ETR1000s to the operator and the ongoing construction of another six vehicles, with D’Aquila describing the model as a “real turning point” in the travel habits of European passengers.
The ETR1000s are 200m-long trains that can seat up to 460 passengers and are suitable for use in countries across Europe, with the model already operating in Spain and France. They are also one of the fastest trains in the world, operating at 300km/h and with an engineered maximum speed of 400km/h.
The newest trains will continue to be painted in the operator’s red Frecciarosse 1000 livery. They are primarily planned for use on the Italian high-speed network but could also be used for cross-border services, as they already are for the Paris to Milan route.
In addition to delivering the high-speed trains to Trenitalia, Hitachi also completed the first phase of a contract with the operator to deliver up to 135 hybrid battery trains, with 20 of the Massachio model already constructed at the Pistoia factory.
