Summary: In June 2012, Trenitalia, the incumbent operator of Italy’s high-speed rail network, took advantage of the new summer timetable to introduce the Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) brand to all its high-speed services, initially with its ETR500 trainsets and then from 2015 with the new ETR400 trainsets acquired from Bombardier (now Hitachi Rail Europe). The term Frecciarossa then became the generic name for Italian high-speed services and the associated rolling stock, particularly the ETR400, which would become Trenitalia’s largest, if not only, fleet. The term Frecciarossa is also used to designate this rolling stock both in France, with the opening up of the Milan-Turin-Paris line to competition, and in Spain, where Trenitalia is associated with the Ilsa consortium to operate a batch of trains on three Spanish high-speed links. This internationalisation is enabling Hitachi Rail to refine its high-speed product on the Continent. Frecciarossa remains associated with the operator Trenitalia, where it operates with this train in Europe…

➤ See also: AVE (Renfe) – Avlo (Renfe) – Eurostar (since 2024) – ICE – InOui – Iryo – Lyria – NTV-Italo – Ouigo SNCF

➤ See also: High speed train in France – High speed train in Germany – High speed train in Italy – High speed train in Japan