Frecciarossa 1000

History and design

In the mid 2000s, Ferrovie dello Stato sought a new very-high-speed train for its Eurostar Alta Velocità Frecciarossa services on the Turin-Milan-Florence-Rome-Naples corridor. AnsaldoBreda and Bombardier Transportation formed a joint venture in 2008 to produce a suitable train, centralising design work at Bombardier's Hennigsdorf plant. The resulting 200 m-long, eight-car, non-articulated single-decker train with distributed traction was designed for 350 km/h and drew heavily from Bombardier's Zefiro V300 and AnsaldoBreda's V250 designs.

Bombardier handled concept and detailed design, propulsion, bogies, homologation, testing, and commissioning of the first five trains; AnsaldoBreda developed the industrial design, body, interior, signalling, and performed final assembly and series commissioning. Gruppo Bertone designed the train's aesthetics, aiming for elegance and speed while meeting international standards for driver visibility, crash protection, and headlight functionality. Wind tunnel tests confirmed compliant drag coefficients and crosswind stability. The train includes an active suspension system.

Accidents and incidents

On 6 February 2020, unit 21 derailed at high speed at Livraga (Lodi) on the Milan-Bologna high-speed line, killing both train drivers and injuring 31 people. On 18 January 2026 at 19:39 CET, unit 109-012 operated by Iryo derailed near Adamuz, Córdoba, obstructing the path of an oncoming Renfe Class 120; the collision caused at least 46 fatalities and 245 injuries, with 15 passengers in critical condition.