The Virgin Pendolino constructed by Alstom passes the one
million miles mark.

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The Pendolino high speed tilting train built
by Alstom and operated by Virgin Trains passed the symbolic mark
of one million miles covered in commercial service during a trip
between London and Glasgow, in the United Kingdom, on 8 January.
Since the Virgin Pendolino entered into service in 2003, on the
West Coast Main Line (WCML), one of the main railway arteries in
the United Kingdom, the number of passengers has increased by
40%.

The 52 trains in the Virgin fleet were built
and are maintained by Alstom since 2003. They are tilting trains,
taken from Alstom’s “Pendolino” range, that
operate at a speed of 200km/h and each have a capacity of 439
passengers. The Virgin Pendolinos are equipped with Tiltronix
technology, a tilting system that enables passenger comfort to be
guaranteed at high speed on winding lines, in complete safety.
The regenerative braking system allows Virgin’s Pendolinos
to reduce their electricity consumption by 17%, compared to a
conventional braking system. The fleet is also equipped with the
“e-train” maintenance system, which anticipates
maintenance interventions thanks to a transmission of datas by
GPRS, and thus improves train availability.

Since it was launched, in 1998, the Alstom
Pendolino has proven itself a genuine success story, with over
200 million kilometres covered in commercial service in the
world. It now operates in 9 countries: the United Kingdom, Italy,
Germany, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Slovenia, Portugal,
Spain and Finland. Russia will add its name to this list starting
from 2010, with the opening of the high speed line between Saint
Petersburg and Helsinki.