New high-speed trains to enter service for 2015 Milan Expo

ETR 1000 to have a commercial speed of 350 km/h

(ANSA) - Milan, March 25 - The first of a new fleet of high-speed 'Freccia Rossa' (Red Arrow) trains will enter into service in 2015 to coincide with the Milan Expo, Italian railways chief Mauro Moretti said Tuesday.

Made by Bombardier Transportation and AnsaldoBreda under a joint venture, the new ETR 1000 will have a commercial speed of 350 km/h, Moretti said. This compares with the 300 km/h reached by the ERF 500 Freccia Rossa trains currently in service between Salerno in the south and the northern city of Milan. The new trains will gradually enter into service between 2015 and 2017, to a total of 50 trains. The upgraded fleet will "redesign national services and boost the most profitable part of international services," Moretti said.