History
Although Italy was already a pioneer in rail travel in the 1930s, it was not until the 1960s that the first high speed lines were planned. The opening of the Direttissima line, connecting Florence with Rome, in stages between 1978 and 1991 was the first high speed line in Europe.
In the 1990s FS finally unveiled plans to build a whole new high speed network. As the larger part of the network would be suited for speeds of 300 km/h (186 mph), new, non-tilting trains had to be designed as the tilting equipment used in the ETR 450, 460 and 480 Pendolino series was not suited for speeds of over 250 km/h (155 mph).
The new train was to be built by the TREVI (TREno Veloce Italiano, "Italian Fast Train") formed by AnsaldoBreda, FIAT Ferroviaria, Tecnomasio and Firema Trasporti.
Read more about this topic: ETR 500
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Bias, point of view, furyare they ... so dangerous and must they be ironed out of history, the hills flattened and the contours leveled? The professors talk ... about passion and point of view in history as a Calvinist talks about sin in the bedroom.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen (18971973)
“In the history of the United States, there is no continuity at all. You can cut through it anywhere and nothing on this side of the cut has anything to do with anything on the other side.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (18381918)
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles.”
—Karl Marx (18181883)