BBD.B RAIL
Rail technology leader Bombardier Transportation’s latest E464 locomotive has left its manufacturing site in Vado Ligure to enter revenue service, strengthening regional passenger railway operations in Italy. With this delivery, Trenitalia owns a total of 688 E464 locomotives, the largest single vehicle-type fleet in Europe.
The delivery of this locomotive confirms Trenitalia as one of the leading railway operators in Europe. It is among the first to benefit from significantly reduced operational and maintenance costs by acquiring such a large and homogenous fleet.
Luigi Corradi, General Manager of Bombardier’s Vado Ligure site, said: “The success of the E464 locomotive, which is generating full customer satisfaction, is largely due to the close and fruitful collaboration between the teams of Bombardier and Trenitalia. Our highly committed employees have worked together very closely since the earliest stages of product development through our innovative manufacturing process in Vado Ligure.”
“The E464 locomotive today stands as the confirmed highest performer among all of Trenitalia’s fleets. If we continue the current successful collaboration between manufacturer and operator during maintenance services, we are confident we can further improve its performance and maximise its life time,” Corradi added.
The Bombardier-built E464 locomotives form the backbone of regional passenger services in 14 regions of Italy: Piedmont, Marche, Emilia Romagna, Trentino, Alto Adige, Tuscany, Puglia, Liguria, Lombardy, Campania, Sicily, Calabria, Lazio, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto. They have covered more than 630 million km already – equivalent to four times the distance between the sun and the earth – proving their superior performance and availability.
With a maximum power of 3.5 MW and a top speed of 160 km/h, the E464 locomotive is particularly well known for its high levels of reliability, availability and serviceability over its entire life cycle.
Bombardier is collaborating closely with Trenitalia again in the design and manufacture of the Frecciarossa 1000 high speed train. By doing so, the two companies aim to replicate the E464 locomotive’s levels of excellence with the latest generation high speed train, which is close to starting dynamic tests in Italy.
Bombardier is the largest producer of locomotives in Europe and the world’s largest manufacturer of electric locomotives. The company’s portfolio covers all market segments, from heavy-haul to very high speed passenger rail. Bombardier has sold around 4,000 locomotives to date.