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:
“The reverence for the Scriptures is an element of civilization, for thus has the history of the world been preserved, and is preserved.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“All objects, all phases of culture are alive. They have voices. They speak of their history and interrelatedness. And they are all talking at once!”
—Camille Paglia (b. 1947)
“It’s nice to be a part of history but people should get it right. I may not be perfect, but I’m bloody close.”
—John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten)