The region placed a €45.6m order for the five-car trains in March 2011 and the first set was delivered to Italy in July 2012 for testing. The trains were due to enter service in early 2013, but have remained in store at Cervignano and Trieste due to what the regional transport councilor for transport Maria Grazia Santoro describes as "the bureaucratic slowness of other institutions."
The contract between CAF and the FVG government stipulated that the trains must be ready for use upon delivery, with Authorisation to Place Into Service from Italy's National Railway Safety Agency (ANSF). However, certification has still not been completed and the trains are not expected to enter service until early next year, although the regional government says it is working with CAF to conclude the process as quickly as possible.
The FVG government is due to award a new 15-year operating contract for regional services this year, which will see the new trains replace 40-year-old Ale 801 EMUs.
Four of the new CAF trains will be equipped to operate cross-border services into Austria and Slovenia.
