The ETR500P-Frecciarossa trains with top speed of 300 km/h run on the high speed lines connecting the main cities in Italy. With the new high-speed lines finally in construction, Trenitalia chosed to electrify the lines at 25 kV AC instead of 3 kV DC as used on the classic network. This allows the ETR500P trains to drive at their top speed of 300 km/h, as 3 kV is technically limited to 250 km/h operation. As the new ETR500 trains can run both off 25 kV AC and 3 kV DC, they were designated P for politensione (multi-current). |