Activities

The activities carried out by the FS Research Centre concern the diffusion of FS Group information to official statistics institutes, national and international institutions, and participation in conferences, joint working groups and international meetings, aimed at the exchange of knowledge and information.

The FS Group contributes to the activities of Sistan – the National Statistical System – through the collection and dissemination of information on rail freight and passenger traffic, carried out on the national Rete Ferroviaria Italiana railway, part of the FS Italiane Group.

The Effect of High-Speed Rail on Tourism: Evidence from Italy

19 September 2024 - What effect does high-speed rail have on tourism? This is the subject of the study conducted by the FS Research Centre, led by Mario Tartaglia and Ilaria Lopresti, and presented in Milan at the XXVI Conference SIET (Società Italiana di Economia dei Trasporti e della Logistica) 'Methods, Practices, and Policies for the Future of Mobility'. The study showed that an increased accessibility, in terms of reduced travel time on long-distance railway services, has a significant positive effect on tourist demand, and this effect is even more marked when looking at foreign tourism.

3^rd Florence Rail Regulation Conference

8 June 2024 - Is it possible to assess all the impacts of rail transport investments? What methods can be used? These questions were answered by Mario Tartaglia, head of FS Research Centre, and Ilaria Lopresti, member of FS Research Centre, who presented a detailed analysis of the evaluation methods used in the transport sector at the 3^rd Florence Rail Regulation Conference, illustrating their current limitations and some thoughts for future developments. The Florence Rail Regulation Conference is held annually, and its purpose is to analyse current rail transport sector policies, and explore new approaches and proposals to accelerate the growth of the rail industry.

Next Mobility Exhibition

10.05.2024 - The conference 'Big Data: from Theory to Practice', organised by Agens (Agenzia Conferederale dei Trasporti e Servizi), was held at the International Public Transport Fair "Next Mobility Exhibition", in Milan. The FS Group was among the attendees, with Lorenzo Vannacci from the FS Research Centre, who presented the FS Group's experience in observing Italian mobility through Mobile Network Data, by illustrating the analyses carried out, the models developed, the critical issues encountered, and the opportunities for future developments.

Annual TRASPOL (Centro di Ricerca sulle Politiche dei Trasporti) Conference

21 February 2024 - The annual TRASPOL conference was held at the Politecnico di Milano, with the title "Politiche dei trasporti: pianificazione, valutazione e regolazione" ("Transport Policies: Planning, Evaluation and Regulations"). The event was also attended by Mario Tartaglia, head of the FS Group's FS Research Centre, who presented a national multimodal passenger transport model developed by the FS Research Centre, in cooperation with Isfort - an effective tool for evaluating transport scenarios in Italy.

103rd Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting

9 January 2024 - The FS Group's study centre, FS Research Centre, was invited to attend the 103rd Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Meeting held in Washington DC (USA) from 7 to 11 January 2024, to share its socio-economic expertise on the topic of decision-supporting models and cost-benefit analyses. On 7 and 8 January, Mario Tartaglia, head of the FSR, presented the paper 'Extending Cost-Benefits Analysis in Italy to a Wider Impact Appraisal' and 'International Advancements in HSR Benefit Cost Analysis'.

Understanding the impacts of extreme hydrometeorological events on railway infrastructure

13–15 September 2023 – Matera hosted the Hydrology Days 2023, titled “Complexity of Hydrological Phenomena in the Natural and Anthropised Environment”. The FS Group also participated in the event with the FS Research Centre and RFI which, in collaboration with the Parthenope University, presented a study analysing the impacts of extreme hydrometeorological events on railway infrastructure. The study investigated the cause-effect relationship between hydrological hazards and damage to railway infrastructure by applying a new methodology to a case study that also avails of the visualisation and processing of spatial data through a Geographical Information System (GIS).

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The FS Research Centre at the “Fourth European Conference of the Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis”

11 September 2023 - The first day of the fourth European conference of “The Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis”, an international organisation dedicated to promoting research and to share ideas on cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis and risk-benefit analysis was held in Milan. With the FS Research Centre, the FS Group took part at the event, with the presentation “Wider Effects of Transportation Planning: focusing on socioeconomic dynamics and issues”. The study highlights the limitations of traditional Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) techniques insufficient to analyse critical social aspects of transport planning. Instead, it  suggests additional methods that can integrate CBA into the assessment of social dimensions, factoring in aspects such as social justice and equity along with other non-financial factors in general.

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FS Research Centre at the “Living and Walking in Cities” International Conference

8 September 2023 - The third day of the International Conference “Living and Walking in Cities” was held in Brescia. This international event, researchers, experts and practitioners spoke about mobility and quality of life in urban areas, illustrating best practices and results from the world of research. With the FS Research Centre, the FS Group participated in the event, presenting a paper titled “Measuring the Impact of Institutional and Territorial Drivers for an Efficient and Smooth MaaS Implementation: a global analysis”. The study provides an examination of the drivers that enable MaaS platforms to be efficient, previsioning the impact of some political and territorial factors on MaaS implementation.

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Bluexperience: The Exhibition on Sustainable Mobility

9 June 2023 - Held in Naples was day one of the second edition of Bluexperience, an international event hosting workshops, debates and in-depth discussions on sustainable mobility, energy and public and private transport. The event was also attended by the Ferrovie dello Stato Group’s FS Research [EF1] Centre with Mario Tartaglia who, in the session dedicated to “Policies and Technologies for Sustainable Mobility and the Decarbonisation of the Transport Sector”, illustrated the importance of data in the integration of transport modes, in order to make mobility increasingly green and to achieve the decarbonisation targets set by the European Union. Divided into five sections, the conference also dealt with topics pertaining to the projects of the National Centre for Sustainable Mobility, the technological and digital transformation of transport services, urban mobility planning and good practices for the development of mobility able to reduce the environmental, social and economic impacts generated by private vehicles.

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Mobility, two years later

15 May 2023 - During a lecture to students at the Politecnico di Milano on “Mobility, two years later”, Mario Tartaglia, head of the FS Research Centre of FS Italiane, illustrated the mobility trends over the last two years and the importance of using new technologies to be able to interpret new tendencies and respond effectively and promptly. This renders it possible to collect and process large and complex data sets, or Big Data, obtaining more information for modelling mobility. The FS Research Centre, for instance, analyses the status of people’s mobility nationally through a geospatial data intelligence platform availing of anonymised telephone Big Data. Such data also makes it possible to analyse seasonal variations in mobility behaviour, thanks to being real-time in respect of the month prior.

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