1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. 22.07.85 Roma Termini E444.019: Phil Richards· CC BY-SA 2.0
what is it?
The FS E.444 is a class of Italian railways electric locomotives. They were introduced in the course of the 1960s until 1975. Starting from 1989, all E.444s were upgraded as E.444R. The locomotives are nicknamed Tartaruga (tortoise).
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 61 years ago, in 1965.
- Top speed is 1.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 12 minutes.
- 4.3 MW is about 50 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 14 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 16.8 m long: about 4 cars parked nose to tail.
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1965–1975
- in service from
- 1967
- number built
- 117
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇮🇹 Italy
- builders
- Unknown builder
- operators
- Trenitalia, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane
- top speed
- 200 km/h
- power
- 4.3 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- electric system
- 3,000 V DC Catenary
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′
- length
- 16.8 m
- weight
- 83 t
- nicknames
- "Tartaruga" (Tortoise)
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q548755, Wikipedia: FS Class E.444 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.