Spain’s Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, visited Hitachi Rail’s production plant in Pistoia, near Florence, on Wednesday.
Accompanied by Renfe’s president, Álvaro Fernández Heredia, and other officials from the operator, Puente toured the 290,000-square-metre facility where the ETR1000 is built. Originally developed by Bombardier and Ansaldobreda—now under Hitachi’s ownership—the ETR1000 stands out as a prime candidate for Renfe’s forthcoming high-speed rolling stock procurement.
The second-generation version, which features several innovations and major upgrades, is already in production. Should Renfe decide to acquire it, no new production line would need to be set up.
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Designed for top speeds of 360 km/h, the first generation is already certified for operation in Italy, France, and Spain—as Renfe’s series 109, used by iryo. The model is currently being homologated in Austria and Switzerland, with plans to do so in Belgium and the Netherlands. These certifications could smooth Renfe’s expansion into new European markets.
During his visit, Minister Puente observed the assembly, testing, and delivery stages carried out at the Italian factory. Founded in 1905 as a locomotive workshop and acquired by Hitachi from Ansaldobreda in 2015, the Pistoia plant employs around 1,800 people and contributes to high-speed projects for Trenitalia and several international operators.
Following his visit to a Siemens plant and another to CRRC, this marks the Minister’s third official visit to a rolling stock manufacturing site. The goal is to assess potential acquisitions for Renfe’s high-speed fleet renewal.