The first electric train on the Bari-Putignano line (via Casamassima)

Bari, 12 September 2019

On Monday, 16 September the first electric train shall debut on the completely restored tracks of the Bari-Putignano line (via Casamassima) of Ferrovie del Sud Est.

The new ETR train (with 3 modules and at 59 metres long) has been designed according to modern standards of safety, comfort and accessibility. It comes with 170 seats, of which two are for passengers with reduced mobility, along with having 4 storage spaces, 1 toilet and a luggage rack for large suitcases. Amongst the services aboard are internal LED information displays, mobile platforms to facilitate access for people with reduced mobility, a video surveillance system, air conditioning and sound system.

All 5 trains purchased by Ferrovie del Sud Est will be operational by the end of October and will guarantee 70% of connections, with advantages in terms of efficiency, quality of the environment and comfort in travel.

Present this morning for the inaugural journey from Mungivacca to Adelfia were Giovanni Giannini—the Regional Councillor for Transport, Luigi Lenci—Chairman of Ferrovie del Sud Est and Giorgio Botti—Chief Executive Officer of Ferrovie del Sud Est.

The radical renewal of 48 kilometres of line (tracks, ballast and beams) and the restoration of electrification mean electric trains can circulate on the Bari-Putignano (via Casamassima) line. Additionally, within the next year, the Bari-Putignano (via Casamassima) stretch will be also equipped with the Sistema di Controllo Marcia Treno (SCMT - the Train Speed Control System) and 17 level crossings that are currently managed manually shall be entirely automated.

The total investment for the renewal of the infrastructure and the modernisation of the train fleet is equal to 80 million euro and will permit—by the end of 2020—an increase in the commercial speed of trains from the current limit of 50 kilometres/hour, reducing the travel time between Bari and Putignano to less than an hour, compared to the current 95 minutes.

The Adelfia station is confirmed as the hub of integrated train/bus transport for the Bari-Putignano line (via Casamassima). It is from here that the connections by bus to and from Cellamare, Noicattaro, Casamassima, Sammichele, Turi and Putignano depart, connecting with the trains.

Amongst the developments of the new timetable, from Monday 16 September, trains shall return to the Putignano-Martina Franca-Taranto line, which will be reopened following the track restoration works. There are thirty trains circulating daily between Putignano and Martina Franca (with a travel time of 55 minutes), 16 trains between Taranto and Martina Franca (with a travel time of 50 minutes).

Finally comes Ferrovie del Sud Est’s 2019 scholastic offering. This year, thanks to the fruitful collaboration with the Puglia Region, Municipal Institutions and Educational Institutes, bus connections are more widespread and increasingly frequent, based on the entry and exit times for the schools. A dense network of connections connects the districts and smaller towns with the main school basins throughout the provinces of Bari, Brindisi, Lecce and Taranto, served by the FSE.