The next stage of Pendolino testing. The train will head out onto railway lines. On Wednesday, October 30, it will travel to Konin, then to the regions of Nowy Sącz, Olsztyn, and Góra Włodowska.
Pendolino tests on the test track have been completed. Starting Wednesday, October 30, the train will be checked while running on railway lines. The train will travel the Warsaw – Konin – Warsaw route. From Monday, November 4, it will be tested in the areas of Grybów and Olsztyn. In Grybów, near Nowy Sącz, the train’s capabilities on steep climbs and descents will be checked. Near Olsztyn, tests will be conducted on curved tracks. The train set will be examined, among other things, for fire safety, track visibility, and interaction with traffic control systems.
In the second half of November, the homologation process will be moved to the Central Rail Line, the fastest railway route in Poland, connecting Warsaw with Kraków and Katowice. There, on the Góra Włodowska – Psary section, the train set will undergo speed trials. Over four consecutive weekends, starting from November 16, the train will accelerate to speeds above 160 km/h, up to 275 km/h. In addition to PKP IC, Alstom, and the Railway Institute, representatives of the infrastructure manager PKP PLK and PKP Energetyka are involved in the research. They will check how a train traveling at speeds above 200 km/h affects track infrastructure, traffic control systems, and electric traction power supply.
Before Pendolino is approved for operation, a series of tests must be carried out. Static tests have already been completed at the factory in Savigliano, Italy, and dynamic tests on the Railway Institute’s test track in Żmigród. There, the brakes, pantograph, safety devices, and impact on railway traffic control equipment were tested. By May 2014, the train should receive authorization for operation from the Office of Rail Transport, and regular service from the north to the south of the country will begin in December 2014.