The FS type TEE (Trans Europ Express) carriages were the result of a study commissioned in 1967 by Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) to FIAT - Sezione Materiale Ferroviario of Turin. to replace on the Trans Europ Express trains entrusted to the Italian railways the TEE ALn 442/448 railcars with trainsets consisting of locomotives and carriages.
The carriages, ordered in 1969 and delivered between 1971 and 1973,. were used on the TEE Lemano, Mediolanum, and Ligure services, but not on the TEE Mont Cenis, which was discontinued on September 30, 1972..
In 1970–71 the FS ordered a further series of coaches called Gran Confort, similar to the TEEs but compatible only with the 3 kV direct current electrification system, which were destined for Trans Europ Express trains in domestic service on the Italian rail network..
In 1984, with the transformation into InterCity of the Mediolanum, the last Trans Europ Express in international service operated with Italian rolling stock, the TEE carriages were put in composition with the TEE Adriatico in domestic service between Milan and Bari, with which they served until 1987..
The TEE carriages were finally converted to Gran Confort between 1990 and 1994.
Genesis of the project At the inception of the first Trans Europ Express lines, most of the planned links were not yet fully electrified, and the service was entrusted to Diesel self-propelled trains expressly built by the railway administrations that had joined the TEE grouping..
However, the TEE ALn 442/448 railcars, put into service by the FS starting in 1957, soon demonstrated their limitationsSantanera reports that "in the second half of the 1960s [...] the rolling stock with which Italy participated in the TEE pool was no longer judged to be adequate to the level of quality, and its rapid replacement was required, under penalty of expulsion from the pool." Cf . on the ramps of the Brenner and Simplon passes, and as early as 1959 the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB), aware of this fact, proposed that the State Railways join them in the purchase of the TEE multi-voltage RAe 1050 electric trainsets produced by Oerlikon, but the offer was not accepted.. Among the reasons that drove the FS to the refusal was the consideration that the multi-voltage electric trains could have been used immediately only on the TEE Lemano (Milano Centrale–Geneve Cornavin), while on the remaining Italian TEEs there were heavy uncertainties related to the slow progress of the program to convert to 3 kV direct current the lines still electrified with the three-phase system and to the lack of electrification on important parts of the French TEE network.In detail, the situation was as follows: on the TEE Mediolanum (Milano Centrale-München Hauptbahnhof), one had to wait for the conversion from three-phase to direct current of the Bolzano–Brenner line, which took place in 1965; on the TEE Ligure (Milano Centrale–Marseille Saint Charles), in addition to the conversion of the Savona–Ventimiglia line, which took place in 1967, weighed the constraint of electrification by the SNCF of the Ventimiglia-Marseille; finally, for the TEE Mont Cenis (Milan Centrale–Lyon Perrache), although the conversion of the Turin–Modane line and the electrification of the Turin–Milan line, both of which took place in 1961, weighed the lack of electric traction between Chambéry and Lyon ().
In the following years, with a view to solving the above electrification problems, the replacement of the TEE railcars was taken up by the FS with two proposals developed by its Material and Traction Service, which had as a common element the realization of an electric-powered trainset that, like the Swiss electric train, did not require the replacement of the traction unit at the borders: the first proposal called for a light-material train consisting of two ALe 601 electric railcars and a Le 480 trailer modified to accommodate the 15 kV Hz and 25 kV 50 Hz single-phase current conversion equipment, kitchen, and luggage. The train would have had a total capacity of 108 seats (54 on each ALe 601), a continuous output of , and a maximum speed of . the second proposal was to build an ordinary material train consisting of four carriages pulled by a four-voltage locomotive (direct current at 1.5 kV and 3 kV and single-phase current at 15 kV Hz and 25 kV 50 Hz) with continuous power of and a maximum speed of , based on the mechanics of Diesel locomotive D.443...
The ordinary-material solution, which would have offered 40 percent more seats for the same cost, led to a study in which, in addition to the four-voltage locomotive, three models of carriages derived from the X-type were defined, namely a 54-seat first-class carriage, a 30-seat first-class carriage with luggage compartment, radio cabin and customs compartment, and a 42-seat dining car, 12 of which could be reserved, with crew compartment, pantry and kitchen. However, the study, completed in October 1966, was not followed up.
The shelving of these plans effectively marked the abandonment by the FS of the realization of a multi-voltage vehicle that would have avoided time wasters in changing locomotives at the frontier..
The final solution came in 1967, when the FS entrusted FIAT – Railway Material Division of Turin with the study of a new series of coaches with a high degree of comfort, meeting the international standards set by the TEE grouping and capable of traveling at speeds of .The two experimental 7195CS carriages, preliminary to the F.71s, were built by FIAT in 1968, and the letter of intent from the FS, which, as a result of the successful outcome of the experimentation, initiated the final design of the TEE carriages, is dated December 1968 ().
In 1969, following the positive outcome of the studies, the FS ordered a group of 28 TEE carriages from FIAT, subdivided as follows:. 13 first-class compartment cars, 5 single saloon first-class coaches, 5 restaurant cars, 5 wagon coaches.
The first car with F.71 bogies began trial runs in late 1970. They took place on lines that at the time allowed a maximum speed of : the Piacenza–Fidenza sections of the Milan–Bologna and Pomezia–Latina sections of the Rome–Naples Direttissima railway..
Deliveries were staggered between 1971 and 1973.
General features As mentioned above, the main design requirements were to achieve a high degree of comfort, meet international standards, and be able to travel at a maximum speed of .
In order to ensure maximum travel comfort, the designers started from the premise of providing the traveler with as many amenities as possible, giving him or her the best possible enjoyment of the scenery and ensuring that he or she did not arrive at the destination tired. Great care was therefore taken to create an aesthetically pleasing environment, thermally and acoustically insulated from the outside, equipped with air conditioning, an efficient lighting system, and a system for broadcasting music and announcements for travelers. In addition to the comfort of the seats, special attention was paid to the design of the trolleys to ensure a quiet and vibration-free ride. Finally, details such as the electrically operated Venetian blinds incorporated between the double glasses of the large windows and the closets for storing clothes behind the seats in the compartment cars were not neglected. To further increase running comfort, the solution of the "floating floor" was adopted, that is, a non-rigid connection of the floor with the body, thus reducing vibrations from the bogies or from the outside in general.
With regard to safety, FIAT's engineers did not stop at strict compliance with the standards of the Union internationale des chemins de fer (UIC) Form 567, which was mandatory for the carriages to be admitted to international service, but went further, making the structural design of the body so that it provided greater protection than required for passengers in the event of a collision. The coaches were made compliant with the International Coach Regulations (RIC), enabled without restriction to board in normal service on the ferries of the Italian, German (Deutsche Bundesbahn – DB), Danish (Danske Statsbaner – DSB) and Swedish (Statens Järnvägar – SJ) railroads according to UIC board 569, and enabled to run coupled on curves with a minimum radius of 80 m..
The need to run on the Western European rail networks, which were electrified with four different power systems, and the high demand for electricity from carriage services (particularly from air-conditioning equipment). required the use of multi-voltage converters that were not available at the time with sufficient power levels and reliability. It was therefore decided to build a conversion station equipped with rotary converters fed from the Carriage Electric Heating pipeline, installed on board a special generator wagon, and to distribute the power to the individual cars via a specially dedicated 660 V 50 Hz three-phase line. This choice, which was almost obligatory, allowed a significant lightening of the carriages and quickened the maneuvers of switching the power supply at border stations, but made the presence of the generator wagon indispensable in the composition of the trains.. The solution of installing a generator set on a carriage, on the other hand, followed a practice already adopted on the TEE equipment of other administrations, such as the stainless steel DEV (Division des Études Voitures) 1956 Mistral type coaches of the SNCF, which became TEE in 1965,. the 1969 Talgo type TEE coaches of the RENFE,. and the 1970 Grand Confort type TEE coaches, also of the SNCF..
Mechanics
Body The chassis of the body consisted of the two side members, the crossbeams, and the corrugated floor plate. The body structure was given a special role for the safety of travelers by inserting next to the intercommunication passages at the end of the headers a pair of uprights, called "antitelescopic" uprights, with the task of counteracting the penetration of one vehicle into the other in the event of a collision..
The body was fitted with intercoms with cylindrical rubber gaskets with double sliding doors electrically controlled by footboards. The doors for passenger access, sliding along the side and equipped with a large folding step,. were operated by an electro-pneumatic system. Opening was controlled locally by a handle, subject to remote unlocking from the trainmaster. Simultaneous closing of the doors of the entire convoy could be controlled by a key from any one of them.
The windows were double glazed with an electrically operated Venetian blind embedded. The coaches were painted in TEE livery in Bordeaux redFS color codes of TEE coaches: Bordeaux Red, 006/148; Sand Yellow, 006/121; Fog Gray, 006/126 (). with a sand-yellow band at the windows that read "TRANS EUROP EXPRESS" in red lettering above them; the roof was painted in fog gray as was the median thread between the bands..
On the sides were lockable enclosures equipped with backlighting for displaying route signs, which also played a safety role by preventing accidental detachment of the sign at high speeds..
Bogies