The ETR 200, what stands for “Elettro Treno Rapido 200”, was the first Italian type of high-speed electric multiple units. It was developed in the thirties mainly for the Milan-Bologna-Florence-Rome-Naples line with a design speed of 175 km/h and a service speed of 160 km/h. Each set consisted of three cars which were articulated using Jacobs bogies. Six of the eight axles were powered by a traction motor with 175 kW. The noses had been aerodynamically optimized in a wind tunnel.

In December 1937, one train set a speed record of 201 km/h. In July 1939, another one improved this to 203 km/h, while setting another record with an average speed of 165 km/h between Florence and Milan. In the same year, one was sent to the New York World's Fair on behalf of Mussolini.

In the early sixties they were rebuilt to the ETR 220, 230 and 240 where they received a fourth car and additional improvements and were approved for a service speed of 180 km/h. They remained in regular service until the early eighties and were used as charter trains until the nineties. ETR 232, originally numbered ETR 212, today is the only one that is preserved. It was the train that had set the record in 1939 and is still in working order.