Looks like Fyra is history

[Densha]

The very end of the story: http://www.globalrailnews.com/2014/03/18/deal-reached-in-fyra-dispute/

 

The former Fyra shuttle services on the HSL are now called 'Intercity direct' and now that it is certain the V250's will go back to the manufacturer the originally intended rolling stock is also in the past.

For the mean time some existing rolling stock will be rebuilt for use on the HSL for expanding the shuttle services but apart from that the NS lost their whole ambitions of operating high speed trains domestically and international.

[bikkuri bahn]

The Albatross goes south...

[railsquid]

I take it this is a less-than-popular train?

[Davo Dentetsu]

I take it this is a less-than-popular train?

The only way it could have been more unpopular would have been if it had a career as the nasty judge on a television talent show.

[Densha]

More about it here: http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/7410-looks-like-fyra-is-history/

 

I actually have one (bad) photo of it I took in September 2012 when there was one trainset doing shuttle services between Amsterdam and Rotterdam:

 

This is the replacement that does 160 km/h max instead of the planned 250 km/h, also called 'IC Direct' now instead of Fyra because that name was 'tainted': https://www.facebook.com/NedTrain/photos/a.594187157291873.1073741827.222141231163136/775452952498625/

[Guest keio6000]

Sorry for being late to the party here.  It is an interesting story!  

 

I hope however that the student presentation we saw there was from some undergratuates or at least the result of nothing more than an overnight project - my god what a terrible presentation--full of assumptions, speculation, and fitting-nails-to-hammers theorizing and quite badly presented.

 

The story of Fyra (which means "horse drawn carriage" in many eastern european languages) I think is similar to the Hyundai Rotem HRCS2 debacle now going on in Ukraine.  In a nutshell, Ukraine overpaid for extremely delicate and maintenance intensive korean trains that were supposed to be run by its engineers who are more used to extremely durable soviet derived designs over the built-like-a-kalashnikov crude but reliable track system through brutal ukrainian winters.  needless to say, it was a disaster and i think 2 years on or whatever it is, none of them now run in Ukraine.

[Melandir]

Looks like the infamous v250 is undergoing further testing on the high speed line between Milan and Turin, probably to be fixed and sold to someone else

[Densha]

The name Fyra was chosen because it means 'four' in Swedish and it was supposed to connect four cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Brussels.

 

Rumours are going on that the Italian railways are interested in them. They have recently introduced an AnsaldoBreda train that is very close to the V250: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stellini/14431101888

[railsquid]

What an ugly-looking train.

 

Just wondering - has Japan experienced any fiascos of that kind, where an entire class of train is so troublesome / full of fail it had to be withdrawn?

[miyakoji]

The DD54 diesel locomotive comes to mind.  They lasted longer than this thing, but did not hold up very well by any standard.  At time of retirement the oldest was 10 years old, the average age was 7 years 4 months and the shortest-lived unit was 4 years 10 months.  The engine was a high output design, maybe internal stresses were excessive.  It was a Maybach (West German, now known as MTU) design licensed by Mitsubishi, and the transmission was another design licensed from a West German company.  The wikipedia article has two points about why it was problematic; the technical capabilities of both JNR and the German engineers weren't sufficient to reliably get this much power from the engine, nor handle it in the transmission, and due to the licensing agreement, JNR and Mitsubishi weren't permitted to improve on the design.  Lastly, type 54 locos are cursed :).

 

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%9B%BD%E9%89%84DD54%E5%BD%A2%E3%83%87%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%82%BC%E3%83%AB%E6%A9%9F%E9%96%A2%E8%BB%8A

[Melandir]

The name Fyra was chosen because it means 'four' in Swedish and it was supposed to connect four cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Brussels.

 

Rumours are going on that the Italian railways are interested in them. They have recently introduced an AnsaldoBreda train that is very close to the V250: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stellini/14431101888

 

That train you have linked is called Frecciarossa 1000, it's the latest generation of High speed train brought by Trenitalia

 

don't be fooled by the AnsaldoBreda name, it's basically Bombardier Zefiro V300 rebadged

 

http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frecciarossa_1000

 

Hopefully should not be like the V250

[Nick_Burman]

The name Fyra was chosen because it means 'four' in Swedish and it was supposed to connect four cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Brussels.

 

Rumours are going on that the Italian railways are interested in them. They have recently introduced an AnsaldoBreda train that is very close to the V250: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stellini/14431101888

 

Also because it is an literation of "fire", giving the idea of extreme speed.

 

 

Cheers NB

[lurkingknight]

looking at the burned up batteries.. more like 'On Fire' would be a more appropriate name.

[Densha]

A funny pic from last year: https://www.flickr.com/photos/53652572@N07/10268054544/

[marknewton]

What an ugly-looking train

There's that old saying, "If it looks right it probably is".

 

These things just look WRONG.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[bikkuri bahn]

Strange, as the Italians typically have a flair for design, IMO the high speed trainsets from the peninsula tend to be among the most stylish and sleek, with some individuality to keep from being banal.  I wondered about the the "Albatross" designation, in English that would surely curse it...

[Davo Dentetsu]

Strange, as the Italians typically have a flair for design...

...but aren't so crash hot at making things that don't catch on fire.

[Densha]

The Dutch railways were able to sell the ex-Fyra V250 units to the Italian railways Trenitalia, where they have now become known as the ETR700.16 series. Here it is doing a test run at Napoli Centrale. They have not yet been taken into commercial service.

 

 

[Socimi]

They will be used on "Frecciargento (Silver Arrow *)"  services connecting north-east italy with the south, supplementing the existing ETR600s and ETR480/ETR485s.

 

They will be called "ETR 700" and of them 16 will be in service plus one stored for spare parts.

 

Commerical services will start in December 2018 with the full roster in operation by June 2019.

 

How they will probably look like:

http://www.ferrovie.info/images/news4/V250_Frecciargento_1.jpg

 

*Frecciarossa ("Red Arrow") are high-speed services operated mostly on dedicated highspeed lines using ETR500 and ETR400 ("Frecciarossa 1000") series trainsets.

  Frecciargento ("Silver Arrow") are high-speed services operated mostly on conventional lines using ETR480 and ETR485 ( second generation "pendolino" from the  1990s)  and ETR600 (third generation "pendolino" from the  2010s) trainsets.

 Frecciabianca ("White Arrow") are upgraded and rebranded intercity services on convetional lines using E414 and E402B locomotives plus UIC-Z type coaches.

 

[Densha]

So this is how the ETR700 ended up looking like...

 

[Socimi]

My eyes are burning.

[railsquid]

Looks like they're trying to disguise it as an original TGV?

[Welshbloke]

In response to 16 coaches being an unusually long train for the Netherlands, well, there was this one...

 

http://www.feijenoordsemeesters.nl/LRtW/index.html

 

I have the commemorative pack Marklin made with the lettering on one side. Need 1607 to go with it.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Welshbloke
Added detail