Original subtitles

A new breed of super machine is evolving.

Bigger. Faster.

Smarter.

Built to tackle near impossible feats.

Among them, one of the world's most advanced high -speed trains.

We're trying to be on time in Rome.

Cutting delays and relieving gridlock highways.

This groundbreaking machine could revolutionize commuting in America.

The big boss here is the clock.

Most American inner -city trains travel at around 80 miles per hour.

This bullet train travels at 180.

I don't like being late.

But fast trains can ride out of control.

Stay safe.

Take the machine designed like no other.

We'll blow this $35 million beast apart to discover technological

secrets that overcome the impossible.

From air -sealed train cars protecting passengers from powerful pressure waves

to a precision -engineered power system built to channel 25 ,000 volts.

We'll reveal...

How this extraordinary super train evolved to rise above all other

Many American cities are reaching transport gridlock.

Congested highways and airports cost the U .S. economy over $100 billion a year

in delays.

And the country's rail network is aging.

Old infrastructure and outdated rolling stock is causing frustrating delays.

There have also been deadly accidents.

To solve the problem, engineers are looking across the Atlantic to Italy,

where a new breed of train called Italo is at the forefront of speed and safety

technology and is committed to always arriving on time.

means 400 people is waiting for you somewhere.

The first of its kind, it could form the blueprint for super -fast commuter

trains, such as the proposed high -speed line connecting Los Angeles and San

Francisco, cutting the average journey time in half.

This billion -dollar fleet shuttles passengers between 14 great Italian

Backed by high -tech control centers and 24 -hour maintenance facilities,

Italo's mission is to get passengers to their destinations with no more than

five minutes delay.

Rail travel can be dangerous.

In September 2008, this Metrolink train in Los Angeles collided with a freight

train, killing 25 passengers.

To prevent accidents like this, Italo is no ordinary high -speed train.

This 440 -ton sprinter is crammed with innovative technology to keep its

passengers safe.

Its shell is sculpted from over 50 ,000 square feet of super -thin aluminum.

12 electric motors drive her wheel.

with the power of 16 Formula One cars.

And her air -cushion suspension keeps her on track at 180 miles per hour.

All of these features work together to make her the Ferrari among high -speed

trains.

This is the man with the key to wake this sleeping beast.

Engineer... Gabriele Cicillini. There is only one key, so you have to be careful

not to lose that.

Now we have to turn it on and bring it live.

Today's mission?

Deliver 450 passengers from Venice to Rome in less than four hours.

It's really important to set the safety distance perfectly.

Even more important for a train which runs at 300 kilometers per hour.

The 310 -mile Venice to Rome route is a vital artery for thousands of business

commuters and tourists.

It's down to train manager Naima Cantini to look after them.

I'm just going to pick up my train over there.

My train should be always on time. They have to be on time. I don't like being

late.

The train departs on time at 9 .55 a .m.

Italo have been in business for less than two years.

To survive, they must build a reputation.

Their goal?

Never more than five minutes late.

But there's a long journey ahead.

From the island city of Venice...

Gabriele must guide the train 310 miles across the Apennine Mountain

through Padua, Bologna, and Florence to

reach its final destination, Rome.

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning. I'm Naima, your train manager, and together

with Gabriele and Robin, it's our pleasure to welcome you on board.

Traveling at more than 110 miles per hour, it's impossible for Gabriele to

to what's up ahead.

He relies on controllers at Italo's headquarters in Rome to alert him to any

dangers on the track.

Fabrizio Chiaretto and his team... Monitor every train in the fleet.

We run up to 50 trains per day. As you can see here, we know at every time

the trains are.

The 9983 is on its way now.

10 .21 a .m.

Italo is due at her next stop, Bologna, in an hour.

Gabriele needs to pick up the pace.

Now we have to go a little faster.

The whole body of this train is designed for speed.

Beneath her race car red paint, just two hundredths of an inch thick, are

over 50 ,000 square feet of skin.

It's made from a clever aluminum sandwich.

Two sheets of superlight aluminum alloy, filled with corrugated aluminum in

between, make her 80 tons lighter than a standard steel train.

To move this featherlight body, she borrows an idea from some of the most

efficient travelers on the planet.

Geese. When they migrate large distances, they always fly in a V

The tips of their wings stir up vortices in the air.

These create updrafts that lift the neighboring goose.

So all birds, except the leader, save up to 50 % of their energy,

helping them go higher, further, and faster.

Italo's designers sculpt V -shaped across its body to help it cut through

air.

sleek fairings on the bogeys, a cone -shaped nose, and triangular shields

the power system help propel her to a top speed of 220 miles per hour.

Let's go.

10 .25.

Italo picks up the pace.

But as history proves...

Increasing speed means increasing risk.

July 23, 2011.

Two brand -new high -speed bullet trains were traveling between Hangzhou and

Fuzhou in China.

A signal failure caused the trains to collide on a viaduct.

Both trains derailed.

Forty passengers were killed.

The Italo train has intelligence built in to prevent collisions like this.

An automatic safety system detects if you veer too close to another train.

The automatic train protection system slows you down, even to stop you.

The last resort, a unique crash protection system built into her nose.

It has three layers of defense.

A shock -absorbing piston at the front.

Behind it, a steel bumper with five crumple zones.

And a crash -proof cage made from high -strength steel.

Together, they can absorb the head -on impact of a truck traveling at 60 miles

per hour.

To give the engineer maximum protection.

Gabriele's train is the first of a pioneering new design.

Before entering service, months of computer modeling were put to the test

high -precision crash simulation.

The results prove that Italo's nose has an effective crumple zone of 12 feet.

Vital protection for Gabriele as he pushes the pedal to the metal.

and hits 180 miles per hour.

Traveling three times faster than a highway speed limit, it's critical that

tracks ahead are clear.

In the U .S., rail infrastructure is aging.

Commuting by train can be slow, frustrating, and sometimes even

But one day, super speed trains like this... could revolutionize the way we

to work and cross the country.

In Italy, this Italo high -speed train is 22 miles into her 310 -mile journey

from Venice to Rome.

Up ahead lies a potentially dangerous 75 -mile section of track.

There are many turns, many railway stations, so you cannot go 300

hour. Engineers laid these tracks before the revolutionary high -speed Italo was

invented.

Prints that are coming from Venezia to Rome run to a traditional line to

Bologna. The traditional lines are not designed for high speed.

Go too fast here and the consequences could be fatal.

If you go faster than the speed limit on this track, you would go out of the

tracks.

Trains have derailed in other countries before.

On July 24th, 2013, this Spanish Alvea high -speed train entered a

tight bend at more than twice the speed limit.

The wheels left the tracks, derailing the trains.

79 people died.

And in the U .S., this Metro North train... traveling into New York City in

December 2013, was also traveling too fast on a bend.

It derailed, killing four passengers.

To prevent disasters like these, Italo has inbuilt intelligence.

It can sense if Gabriele travels too fast for the tracks.

The train is very clever.

We have a safety system that breaks the train every time you hit the speed

limit, even by a little bit.

Speed sensors aren't the only inventions that keep Italo riding safely on the

rails.

The key to a smooth run lies in the sets of wheels, called bogies, that link the

train cars.

Each bogie has four wheels and is the size of an SUV.

They're crammed with innovative suspension, an idea that has its roots

ancient Britain.

Celtic warriors fought their battles from chariots, but on bumpy grounds they

were a lousy ride.

So the Celts suspended the wheels from loops of leather.

The leather straps absorbed the bumps to give both a smoother ride and a deadly

aim.

The Italo has an extraordinary three layers of suspension built into its

Coiled springs soften vibrations and bumps.

Hydraulic dampers absorb sideways motion to keep the wheels on track.

And two inflatable rubber bags automatically adjust the cushioning

the number of passengers on board, giving Italo a super smooth ride.

An army of 200 mechanics works around the clock to keep the 25 -strong fleet

Italo super trains in pristine condition.

Each train has a check -up every four days at this depot in southern Italy to

make sure its innovative bogeys and speed sensors work without a hitch.

Diego Cutolo heads up tonight's crew.

The big boss here is the clock. I have 13 hours.

To turn around the train and to do all we need to do from start to the end.

Diego's team overhauls four or five trains every day.

Our mission is the safety of the train.

Passenger safety, driver safety, everything depends on what we do here

The crew scans the wheel axles using ultrasound to check for deadly weak

The ultrasound checking system is really, really important because it's

way we have to detect if the axle is somehow broken or is going to break.

The most dangerous thing that can happen if the axle somehow is not strong

enough anymore is that it can break during the run of the train.

It will be really a total disaster.

The ultrasound scan allows Diego's team to pinpoint fatigue cracks in the axle

metal, too small to see with the naked eye.

So in this way, we are sure that your axle, for all its length, has no

So you see all white, that means that it did not detect any defect.

That means that the axle is okay.

It's regular pit stops like these that keep Gabriele's train from flying off

tracks at high speed.

11 .10.

75 miles into the journey to Rome.

Italo's due at her next station, Bologna, just 10 minutes from now.

But a problem up ahead.

could bring the train to a grinding halt.

The problem is that local trains are running on this line as well, so you can

get late because of conflicts with them.

Gabriele is stuck right behind one of the slow trains.

He now has to slow down. That means that this train is getting late.

It'll lose reputation as the future of high -speed commuter transit is on the

line.

She's got to be on time and make it within the magic five -minute window.

The screen now is four minutes delayed.

If it gets higher than five minutes, then there is a problem.

The U .S.'s rail network is in need of modernization.

Plans are afoot for super high -speed trains that could cut the commute from

Angeles to San Francisco from six hours to three.

And the journey from New York to D .C. from three hours to just 90 minutes.

This revolutionary high -speed train in Italy could be the blueprint.

The $35 million Italo train is 80 miles into its 310 -mile journey.

From Venice to Rome.

Waiting to board at Bologna, the next station stop, is hotel owner Christian

Caponi. Today we have got an important meeting. The most important because we

are opening a new hotel.

I depend on this train to be in Rome on time.

It's now 11 .15.

Christian needs to arrive in Rome no later than 2 p .m. But Italo's running

late.

Across five minutes for us is a problem.

Gabriel and Naima are working as fast as possible to bring it back on time.

Their reputation is on the line.

We try to let the passengers get in faster so that we will, you know, try to

keep minutes from every station.

There was a slower train in front of us. If it is a few minutes late, it makes a

chain reaction on all other trains.

Naima had just 90 seconds to board these passengers.

There's someone running.

People who live.

Italo shoots out of the station, but she's still late.

I hope that there is not a problem.

I hope that it's only for me.

Gabriele's got to make up for lost time.

Fortunately, he's hit the high -speed track.

From Bologna to Florence, the line changes from the traditional one to the

-speed one.

Here, Gabriele can power the train up to 180 miles per hour.

But first, he needs to switch to a new power line.

Electricity passes from the overhead wire to the train through steel arms,

called pantographs.

The special high -speed pantograph channels 25 ,000 volts.

Now we're going to answer the high -speed line.

Now we have to. change the pantograph.

This switch is a critical maneuver.

As this test footage from another train shows, if the pantograph fails to line

up with the cables, electrical arc could damage the train or even start a fire.

Designers precision engineer in those pantographs to prevent disasters like

this.

As Gabriele triggers the switch, A signal races to the high -speed

Air rushes into a pneumatic cylinder and pushes the steel arm upwards until

it makes contact with the wire.

On the pantograph's leading edge, a strip of graphite touches the power

It's a material that was once used on British warships.

200 years ago, the British Navy made the deadliest cannonballs on Earth.

Their secret technique was to carve the molds from graphite.

Heat -resistant and slippery, graphite produced perfectly round cannonballs

covered in a layer of carbon from the mold.

They caused less friction in the gun barrel, so they could fly faster, and

harder.

Graphite makes the perfect contact for the pantograph.

Heat -resistant, slippery, and a great conductor.

Two 1 .6 -inch strips of ultra -pure graphite draw down 9 ,000 kilowatts of

power to the train.

They reduce friction on the cables and beat the heat of arcing.

Top to butt.

They give Italo a smooth, safe ride.

In Italo's maintenance depot, engineers inspect each of the train's pantographs

every four or five days.

Each 7 ,500 kilometers, we have to check the pantograph itself to be sure that

everything is going well.

First job, climb onto the train's roof.

No simple task when high -voltage power lines run the length of the workshop.

They're lethal.

If anyone

switches the power back on while Diego's

on the roof, he could be electrocuted.

So he locks away the key to the supply.

It's a way to avoid that anybody could power on the line with somebody on the

roof.

As Diego's crew inspects this train, they discover that the graphite strips

worn thin.

We have to change both because they are not okay now.

Usually, the two contacts will last around 50 ,000 kilometers.

That means around three weeks.

If they don't replace them now, this pantograph could damage a power line.

and potentially start a fire.

It's critical maintenance like this that allows 9 ,000 kilowatts of electricity

to surge down into Gabriele's train without a single spark.

Now we can start to accelerate up to 300 kilometers per hour.

Italo has an extraordinary invention that transforms this immense power into

speed.

Unlike traditional trains, she is not pulled by a single locomotive engine.

Two powerful electric motors are crammed into each boat.

Each motor boasts over a thousand horsepower.

The motor drums contain thousands of tiny, super -strong magnets, rotating to

form an electric motor with more pulling power than a Formula One car.

Twelve of these monster motors.

Positioned along the length of the train, push Italo to top speed in

I remember the first time I went up to 300 kilometers per hour. The feeling was

something strange because it was the first time for me to go at that speed

a train.

In Italy, we like the speed.

We've got Ferrari, we've got Lamborghini, we've got Ducati, and for

we've got Italo.

Italo hurdles across the Italian countryside at top speed to claw back

time.

But up ahead lies another obstacle, the longest rail tunnel in Italy.

In a tunnel, there's nowhere to run. An accident here

is the crew's worst nightmare.

In Italy, the revolutionary Italo high -speed train is 96 miles into her 310

-mile journey from Venice to Rome.

She hits top speed, 180 miles per hour, 100 miles an hour

faster than the average American inner -city train.

It goes so fast, it's like being in a plane.

This train network could shape the design of future high -speed commuter

in the U .S.

Up ahead, like one of the greatest challenges its engineers have had to

overcome, deep mountain tunnels.

Italo is about to enter the Apennines, a mountain range with peaks nearly 10

,000 feet high.

The fastest route is straight through the middle of these massive mountains.

Through nine tunnels up to 11 miles long.

Tunnels are bad news for a high -speed train.

It's running at 300 kilometers per hour.

When a high -speed train travels through a tunnel, air pressure problems can be

generated.

At this speed, the train creates a powerful airwave as it passes through

tunnel.

The sudden change in air pressure could cause damage to passengers' ears.

To make this a pain -free ride, Italo's engineers fit the train with a unique

innovation.

Hidden just under the roof of the train car, two high -powered fans

push in air to pressurize the cabin.

To seal the air intakes as they pass through the tunnel, engineers adapt a

feature used by expert divers.

Sea otters are brilliantly adapted to hunting underwater.

They can activate muscles that close their nostrils and pull their ear flaps

over their ear canal to shield them from the pressure as they dive.

Italo uses this idea to protect the ears of its passengers.

As she hits a tunnel, flaps hidden in the roof shut off the air conditioning

intakes.

Around the door, rubber seals inflate.

These seal the train cars like the fuselage of an airplane, stopping the

of ear -blowing pressure waves.

Gabriele now has to control the air intake.

He has a button to be pressed when he is getting into a tunnel.

Gabriele activates the flat.

The train is now a completely sealed metal tube.

I feel like in a bubble.

22 ,000 cubic feet of air should be enough to last the 450 passengers until

fence reopens. When he gets out the tunnel, he has to press the button again

reopen the intake.

And if he doesn't, the button starts to blink to remind him that the passenger

has to breathe.

One rail tunnel down.

But up ahead is the longest rail tunnel in Italy at 11 miles long.

It's one of a series of nine tunnels stretching for 46 miles.

And the longer the tunnel, the greater the dangers.

It's a huge tunnel. If there's an accident on the line, that means that

to evacuate the train to manage the panic of the passengers.

The crew's worst nightmare is fire in a tunnel.

A tunnel quickly becomes a furnace, and passengers have nowhere to run.

There's no escape.

So this train is on constant fire alert, so the crew doesn't have to be.

Hidden above the engineer's head are four tanks filled with 22 gallons of

and 9 gallons of nitrogen.

In a fire, they push water through 650 feet of pipes in the ceiling to high

-pressure sprinklers in the car.

Their superfine nozzles create a dense mist that fills the train car and

smothers the fire without flooding the train.

11 .58 a .m.

Florence, the next station stop, is 22 miles away.

The train is due on the packed platform at 12 p .m.

The crew has clawed back lost time on the high -speed track, but they're still

fighting a delay.

Train 9983 is getting to Florence Santa Maria Novella and is four minutes late.

So we are keeping an eye on it.

Gabriele needs to get this journey back on track.

But in Florence, it's not that simple.

He has to change the cabin.

In Florence, there's no other way out. We have to change the cab so we don't

have to run.

Gabriele needs to drive out of the station the same way he came in.

So he must quickly get himself to the engineer's cab at the opposite end of

train. The clock is ticking.

The groundbreaking Italo train.

is 150 miles into her 310 -mile super -speed trip from Venice to Rome.

American engineers are looking to this train as a way of revolutionizing future

rail networks in the U .S.

Italo has reached Florence and is due in Rome 90 minutes from now.

Gabriele needs to get moving, fast. We are about...

Five minutes late.

We're ready to go.

A little late.

But anyway, I'm ready.

The 9983 has just left Sovereign, so it's on its way now.

We leave Florence five minutes late. I hope that we arrive in Rome in time.

I hope.

Italo is now two miles beyond Florence Station.

She has 160 miles to go to reach her destination.

And only 90 minutes to get there.

Gabriele maxes out the Italo train at 180 miles per hour.

But more speed puts extra stress on the train.

One of the most vulnerable parts are its wheels.

They could shatter. It's happened to other trains before.

On June 3rd, 1998, this German inter -express train was hurtling from

Munich to Hamburg at 125 miles per hour.

A fatigue crack in one of the wheels caused the train to derail.

The crash killed more than 100 people.

It was the deadliest high -speed rail disaster in history.

Italo is traveling 60 miles per hour faster than the German Express train.

But its wheels are built to withstand the most extreme forces.

Each of Italo's 48 wheels is made from a single 1 .3 ton piece

of steel.

The key to their incredible strength lies deep inside.

A secret borrowed from medieval blacksmiths.

After forging a sword, they dipped it in cold water.

The outside cooled quickly to make a hard, cutting edge.

The core cools slowly, making it more malleable, allowing it to absorb

shattering blows.

The Italo's wheels are made just like this.

Their soft core can take a real beating.

Their super hard edge can remain crack -free for one million miles.

The wheel bogeys clamp the train parts together tightly.

They stop the train from jackknifing, even as it careers off the rails.

Driving this fast demands exceptional concentration.

This super smart train is crammed with novel technology to make sure engineers

like Gabriele stay focused.

If I don't press this button every 50 seconds, the train breaks and stops

completely. The train is checking I'm here, and I know what I'm doing.

The train even monitors the track beneath it for hidden dangers.

At this speed, water or leaves on the rails could cause Italo's wheels to lose

grip.

To stop her skidding, she has inbuilt intelligence that can sense track

problems. before her engineer is even aware.

Speed sensors monitor the rotation of the wheels on each axle.

If they detect one spinning faster than the others, it means one of the wheels

is flipping.

The sensors send a signal to ingenious tanks hidden in the nose.

The tanks contain 180 pounds of sand that shoots onto the tracks.

to give the wheels extra traction on slippery rails.

Super intelligent inventions that keep the train's wheels and engineer on track

help Gabriele power full speed ahead and make up for lost time.

We are just two minutes late now.

After 300 miles, the finish line, Rome, is in sight.

But one final hurdle could wreck hopes of Italo arriving on time.

The train runs through the city and this is a densely occupied line.

Commuter trains block the rails ahead and threaten to stop this super train in

its track.

Italo train 9983 is almost at the end of her 310 mile journey from Venice

to Rome.

She's now just 10 miles from her destination.

But crowded tracks make this the slowest section on the whole route.

The train runs through the city and this is a densely occupied line.

1 .34 p .m.

The train is due into Rome at 1 .50.

Gabriele is running late.

These hold -ups are the last thing he needs.

The control room battles to clear the tracks ahead.

144. Good news from control.

The line ahead is clear.

Gabriele can power through to Rome.

They need to just go as fast as possible.

I have a taxi waiting me in Ostia at 2 o 'clock.

It's very important to arrive in time.

Ostiense Station is finally in sight.

Italo makes it. Reputation intact.

We've arrived at the end of the journey.

in Romo Stianza right in time.

I'm proud of our work today.

I'm very happy.

We're about to let the passengers get off the train and we'll go home.

We're in Romo Stianza.

It's a beautiful day and we are in time.

I just love

this train because I spend so many many nights on it. It's like I told my fiancé

pretend that he's my lover.

Because there's always Italo in my life, so I just pretend that you have to

figure it.

Okay, now my job is done for today.

Today, train 9983 was right on time.

Gabriele's train is just one of a 25 -strong fleet of Italo trains that

across Italy 50 times a day.

The eyes of the world are on Italo.

Its design could form the blueprint for the next generation of high -speed

commuter trains that could change the face of rail travel in the U .S.

Cutting the commute from L .A. to San Francisco from six hours to three and

journey from New York to Washington to just 90 minutes.

It's all thanks to...

Air -sealed train cars that protect passengers' ears from painful pressure

waves. A pantograph that safely channels 25 kilovolts from live overhead

lines. Air -cushioned suspension that keeps her running smoothly on the

even at top speed.

Tough -to -bust steel wheels that stay strong for one million miles.

And a streamlined body that cuts through the air.

at up to 220 miles per hour.

It's these technological secrets that have helped this high -speed train

to rise above all other machines.