High speed High-speed L
ABELLED “the world’s most stunning train,” much of the striking design of Trenitalia’s new flagship high-speed train, the Frecciarossa 1000, is traceable to a humble sketch drawn by the company’s CEO. Dr Alexander Orellano, head of vehicle design at Bombardier Transportation, says one day during the early stages of the development process Mr Mauro Moretti handed their development team a drawing and told them that he wanted the new train to resemble a Cobra.
“While of course it was clear that some things wouldn’t work, the overall concept was pretty good,” Orellano says. “He gave us a very clear picture of how he would like the train to look and in many ways he is the guy behind it. We felt that adapting the idea of the leader of Trenitalia could tie us to the emotional perception of the train in Italy which would be so important.” As the first of 50 trains ordered from a joint venture of Bombardier and AnsaldoBreda, which secured a É1.54bn contract in July 2010, begins preliminary testing at Bombardier’s plant in Vado Ligure, Italy, it is evident in the salient curves in the nose of the train that this original concept has made it all the way to the finished article. Of course while the design is certainly aesthetically pleasing, getting it right is crucial to running a train efficiently and effectively at a maximum design speed of 400km/h.
“In 2008 we sat down and looked at what we needed to do to grow our presence in the high-speed market, because at that point we were not
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perceived as a big high-speed train supplier,” Orellano says. “We felt that it was natural to become competitive in train performance because we couldn’t beat our competitors on cost because they were in a position to mass produce a TGV or an ICE. We looked at putting our energy in the area of aerodynamics and energy performance. We decided to use optimisation methods based on generic algorithms related to cross-wind stability and aerodynamic resistance that would make our high-speed trains attractive and potentially position us at number one in this area.” For its É653m share of the contract Bombardier is responsible for concept and detailed design of the Frecciarossa 1000, or Zefiro V300, as well as certification, project management and the supply of propulsion equipment and bogies. AnsaldoBreda is supplying the car bodies and carrying out final assembly.
The train is 202m-long and is formed of eight cars with capacity for 469 passengers, and can be operated in single or double units. The sets have a maximum output of 9.8MW using 16 asynchronous motors that are powered from 25kV 50Hz, 3kV dc, and 1.5kV dc, with an option for 15kV 16.67Hz. Research and development of the new train was aided by the German Aerospace Institute (DLR) under a cooperative agreement signed with Bombardier in 2009. The partnership focuses on researching the relationship of aerodynamics and aeroacoustics, dynamic stability, interior trends and interior acoustics with high-speed trains and has had a major impact on the final design of the Frecciarossa 1000 and the
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Preliminary testing is underway of the Frecciarossa 1000, Italy’s new 360km/h high-speed train at Bombardier’s Vado Ligure plant. Kevin Smith takes an in-depth look at the design features of what will be Europe’s fastest high-speed train when it enters service in 2016.
Zefiro 380 for China, Bombardier’s inaugural very- high-speed train project. The two parties shared personnel during the development process and integrated the results of tests using DLR’s equipment (p40) with Bombardier’s simulation and CAD modelling tools. Managing and reducing overall
energy consumption is a major element of this design and development process. Orellano says that although Trenitalia places less emphasis on this than private operators - for instance by declining to introduce technologies to
“We felt that it was natural to become competitive in train design because we couldn’t beat our competitors on cost.” Alexander Orellano
reduce energy consumption while the train is parked which are possible but more complicated to implement - research carried out is likely to have a major impact on future variants of the Zefiro V300 and other rolling stock. Orellano says this is already evident in double-deck tilting emus Bombardier is developing for Swiss Federal Railways (SBB).
“When we started with energy performance in 2006 it was obvious to
IRJ July 2013
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