Italy-based Finmeccanica’s subsidiary AnsaldoBreda has signed a €250m contract with train operator Trenitalia to deliver maintenance service for the new Frecciarossa 1000 fleet.
Developed by AnsaldoBreda and Bombardier, the Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed train is expected to begin operations on the Italian high-speed network from 2015.
Under this ten-year contract, AnsaldoBreda will carry out the preventive, first-level and corrective maintenance on board the vehicles in order to enhance the reliability and the availability of the trains.
AnsaldoBreda will undertake the maintaining processes at the Trenitalia facilities in Naples and Milan.
The Frecciarossa 1000 train sets will be able to house 600 passengers and reached a top speed of more than 400km/h during test runs.
The trains will be able to operate commercially at up to 360km/h on the Alta Velocità network, reducing the Rome-Milan journey time to 2h and 20min.
These eight-car electric multiple units will have 485 seats across four classes and two spaces for passengers with reduced mobility.
Recently, Japanese conglomerate Hitachi submitted an offer to AnsaldoBreda and Finmeccanica’s 40% stake in signalling supplier Ansaldo STS.
Finmeccanica had decided earlier to sell its subsidiary in order to cut the €4.8bn ($6.1bn) debt and focus on its aerospace and defence businesses and shortlisted Hitachi and China’s CNR Corporation for the sale.