.jpg)
3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Alaris 490.002 en Tarragona: eldelinux from Cataluña, España· CC BY 2.0
- 2. Renfe 490 (2721029530): André Marques 432 from Madrid· CC BY 2.0
- 3. RENFE 490 Alaris - Valencia Nord - 2014-08-13: Mike1979 Russia· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The Renfe Class 490, also known as the ETR 490, is an electric multiple unit constructed by Alstom and Fiat Ferroviaria and operated by Spanish rail company Renfe on its Alaris long-distance services. Since the introduction of the Alaris service, only ETR 490 units have been used for this service. Therefore, these trainsets are often known as Alaris themselves.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 27 years ago, in 1999.
- Top speed is 1.7× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 11 minutes.
- 2 MW is about 24 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 27 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 79.4 m long: about 18 cars parked nose to tail.
- Seats 160: 3 full city buses (~50 seats each).
- Still in service after 27 years.
multiple unit: A self-propelled train: motors are spread under the passenger cars, so no separate locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1999
- in service from
- 1999
- status
- in service
- number built
- 10
- kind
- multiple unit
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇪🇸 Spain
- builders
- Alstom, Fiat Ferroviaria
- operators
- Renfe Operadora
- top speed
- 220 km/h
- power
- 2 MW
- gauge
- 1,668 mm Iberian broad gauge
- electric system
- 3 kV DC Catenary
- wheel arrangement
- 1AoAo1+2'2'+1AoAo1
- length
- 79.4 m
- weight
- 159 t
- capacity
- 160 passengers
- Dutch name
- RENFE serie 490
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q600861, Wikipedia: Renfe Class 490 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.