Rolling stock • Block train • High speed train • Italy • NTV-Italo • AGV Alstom
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In brief
The AGV was designed before the 2008 financial crisis, when the high-speed rail market was expanding. With market demands for trains covering over 1,000 km in under three hours, speeds of 360 km/h were envisioned. However, Alstom’s AGV no longer suited the SNCF, which preferred high-capacity TGV-Duplex and 2N2 models to increase seating without adding trains and incurring extra rail tolls.
The AGV had been part of a joint bid by Alstom and CAF for the Madrid-Barcelona line, but the contract went to Talgo and Siemens. Siemens’ argument for maximizing seating capacity influenced Alstom’s design, which retained the articulated TGV architecture. The first prototype, Elisa, emerged in 2001, followed by Pégase.
Unexpectedly, the AGV’s first customer was Italy’s private operator NTV, founded in 2006. Initially considering Siemens’s ICE, NTV’s CEO discovered Pégase at Alstom’s La Rochelle facility in 2007. In January 2008, NTV ordered 25 ETR 575 trainsets, delivered between 2011 and 2012, with a 30-year, €1.5 billion maintenance contract in Nola, near Naples.
NTV’s AGV featured 11 articulated cars, 200 meters long, with a 410-ton weight. It had 10 permanent magnet motors (7,500 kW) and could reach 300 km/h, or 360 km/h with additional powered bogies. The interior, optimized for space, included Club, Prima, and Smart “atmospheres,” seating 450 passengers.
The first train was delivered in 2010, entering service as NTV-Italo in April 2012. While Alstom’s AGV future remains uncertain, NTV later ordered eight Pendolino trains in 2015.
Family name: AGV (Avelia Alstom)
Class: ETR 575 (Italy)
Manufacturer(s): Alstom
Train type: Trainsets
Sector: Passengers transport
Type of service: Main line
Operator(s): NTV-Italo (25)
First services: April 2012
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Train length: 200m
Maximum speed: 300 km/h
Traction system: floor-mounted Alstom ONIX IGBT-VVVF
Electric system(s): 25 kV 50 Hz AC, 3,000 V DC
Pantograph: 2
Braking system(s): Dynamic and Regenerative brake
Track gauge: 1,435 mm
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Formation: 11 cars
Seats Club Executive: 19
Seats Prima: 76
Seats Comfort: 76
Seats Smart: 289
Restaurant car: no
Bar car: no
Total seats: 460
The definition of a high-speed train varies by region, but generally, it refers to trains that operate at speeds of at least 250 km/h (155 mph) on newly built lines and 200 km/h (124 mph) on upgraded lines. In Europe, for example, the UIC (International Union of Railways) considers a commercial speed of 250 km/h as the principal criterion for high-speed rail. In the United States, the definition can include trains operating at speeds ranging from 180 km/h (110 mph) to 240 km/h (150 mph).
➤ See the UIC definition
Background and development
Launch
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Rolling stock • Block train • High speed train • France • SNCF • Lexical