In the 80's they planned to electrify the railway lines in Sardinia -
in 25kV 50Hz AC system instead of the common Italian 3 kV DC voltage.
FIAT and Ansaldo built between 1986 and 1990 25 locomotives for these
lines: 19 class E491 and 6 class E492 engines (maximum speed of the E491
is 140 km/h, while that of the E492 is 160 km/h). The planned
electrification was eventually cancelled, therefore FS had to store
these locomotives for more than 10 years, because they are not suitable
for operation under 3 kV DC. Apart from a few tests, these vehicles
never run.
One engine, the 492 004 came to Hungary in spring 2001. The MÁV
intended to buy all 25 vehicles - if the tests will be successful and
the price of the locomotives won't exceed that of the reconstruction of
the class V43 locomotives. The main purpose was to use these locomotives
on the lines Budapest-Székesfehérvár-Szombathely and Budapest-Hegyeshalom,
therefore they tested the sample loco there for 3 months. Eventually -
because of the unsuccessfulness of the tests - the Hungarian Railways
did not buy the locomotives.
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