The ETR 460, 470 and 480 series are “Pendolino” express trains with tilting technology, which are considered the successors of the ETR 450 and were designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. The nine-car trains each are powered on one axle of both bogies in six of the cars. By distributing the power train, it was possible to achieve a low axle load of 13.5 tonnes, which allows the car body to be inclined by up to eight degrees without having to reinforce the structure of the tracks. The three series were created for suitability for different power systems.

The ETR 460 is the original model that was built ten times and is only used on the classic Italian lines with 3,000 volts DC. The ETR 470 is also equipped for 15,000 volts and 16⅔ Hz alternating current and is intended for cross-border traffic to Switzerland and Germany. The nine sets were initially deployed jointly by Cisalpino and, after their dissolution, divided between SBB and Trenitalia. The ETR 480, built 15 times, can be used not only with 3,000 volts direct current but also with 25,000 volts 50 Hz alternating current, which is used on some of the newer Italian high-speed routes. The ETR 470 is only certified for 200 km/h, the others for 250 km/h.

Most of the trains are still in use, only the SBB complained about a disproportionately high number of problems and retired the trains. Three were scrapped in 2015 and only one was leased to Trenitalia. The Italian examples were modernized from 2004 and some came to the Greek subsidiary of Trenitalia, where they are used on the Athens-Thessaloniki route. The ETR 480 used for this were already equipped for the 25.000 Volts 50 Hz power system and the ETR 470 still had to be converted. Similar trains based on the ETR 460, 470 and 480 were built in other countries: in the Czech Republic the CD series 680, in Portugal the CP series 4000 “Alfa Pendular”, in Slovenia the SŽ series 310 and in Finland the VR series Sm3. The British Class 390 is also based on the Italian Pendolino.