Alfa Pendular
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Alfa Pendular is the name of the pendolino high-speed train of Portuguese state railway company CP. It connects the cities of Braga, Porto, Aveiro, Coimbra, Santarém, Lisbon, Albufeira and Faro, among others. Its top speed is 220 km/h (136.7 mph) and it's lightweigh at only 13.5 ton/axle. Its tilting technology allows the train to negotiate curves at higher speeds than conventional trains. The combination of the resulting high cornering velocity and the tilting movement of the carriages ensures a dynamic experience
On this train traction motors run along the whole length of the train. This to spread the weight of the train evenly, facilitating cornering at high speed. The trainset has a max tilt angle of 8° when negotiating corners to reduce the effect of the centrifugal force on the passengers. The use of this train does not demand particular modifications to the railroad but it is expensive in terms of maintenance of the rolling stock because of the complexity of the tilting system.
The hydraulic tilting system it is governed from two gyroscopes that are in the head cars. The curve is found on the base of the elevation of the external track.
The Alfa Pendular high speed train are closely derived from the Giugiaro designed Italian Fiat ETR 480 ‘pendolino’ train. It’s a 6 unit EMU (electrical multiple unit). The traction engines develop 4,0 MW. The bogies had to be redesigned for operation on Portugal's broad gauge track. The trains were assembled by Alstom at the Portuguese Amadora plant.
[edit] Stations
The alphabetical list of stations served by the Alfa Pendular is as follows:[1]
- Albufeira
- Aveiro
- Braga
- Coimbra-B
- Entrecampos (Lisbon)
- Entroncamento
- Famalicão
- Faro
- Lisboa-Oriente
- Lisboa-Santa Apolónia
- Loulé
- Pinhal Novo
- Pombal
- Porto-Campanhã
- Santarém
- Tunes
- Vila Nova de Gaia
