Constructed 1961–1963, 1972–1973 Capacity every car 80 seats | Number built 53 trainsets | |
Manufacturer Savigliano, Stanga, Aerfer, Ocren Fleet numbers ALe 803.001–053Le 803.101–161Le 803.001–053 | ||
The ALe 803 are a serie of EMUs built in the 1960s for the Italian state railways FS, and now used by the railway company Trenitalia.
Contents
Description
Each trainset is composed by 3 or 4 cars: a railcar (ALe 803), 1 or 2 wagons (Le 803.100), and a control car (Le 803.000).
The numbers are ALe 803.001–053 for the railcars, Le 803.101–161 for the wagons, and Le 803.001–053 for the control cars.
History
The ALe 803 were conceived at the end of the 1950s to resolve the increasing problems of commuting around the bigger cities of Italy.
They were projected together with the luxury railcars ALe 601, with a similar structure and shared components.
In 1959 the Ferrovie dello Stato ordered a first serie of 20 trainsets, and a second serie of 15 trainsets specifically conceived for the Naples metropolitan railway, with less seats and harsher interiors. Each set was made of three distinct cars - railcar, wagon and control car.
Those series were delivered from 1961 to 1963; the first serie was assigned in Rome, and from 1964 in Genoa for the urban railway service.
The FS were satisfied with those trains, so ten years later they decided to order a third serie of 18 trainsets, 10 made of 3 cars and 8 made of 4 cars (with two intermediate wagons). This serie was delivered in 1972–1973.
Since the end of the 1970s the ALe 803 were substituted by the newer EMUs of ALe 801/940 and ALe 724. In 2009 only 15 trainsets were still in use. The service finished in 2015 with the train ale 803-033.
Derived units
The EN 300 railcars of SEPSA, built in 1977, were strictly derived from the ALe 803.