Rho, 23 March 2015
Gruppo FS Italiane Railway Engineering for Expo Milano 2015.
Thanks to Italferr, 90% of the works assigned under the direction of this company in August 2014 has already been completed.
Just over one month prior to the official start of Expo Milano 2015, Michele Mario Elia – CEO of FS Italiane, Giuseppe Sala – CEO of Expo 2015 S.p.A. and Sole Commissioner Representing the Government for Expo Milano 2015 – and Matteo Triglia – CEO of Italferr – reported progress in relative works at the Base Camp in Rho (Milan).
Italferr Director of Operations and General Manager Constructions for Expo 2015 Marco Rettighieri also attended.
Italferr supports the contracting party and sole party responsible for the procedure identified by Expo Milano 2015 from technical, legal and administrative viewpoints to ensure that works are completed – including the Expo Centre, Zero Pavillion, Children Park, topic Clusters, Theme Corporate Pavilion, Teatro (Piastra) and Country Pavilions – by the relative deadlines and in compliance with current laws.
In order to create the clusters, service architecture, exhibition spaces, pavilions and layouts, until now 250 thousand cubic metres of concrete, 80 thousand cubic metres of wood, 200 kilometres of electric wiring and 70 thousand tons of steel have been used. The 400 contractors and sub-contractors (entailing over 5,300 employees) in the Universal Exhibition area (around one million square metres) have been coordinated by Italferr (with 40 technicians operating on site seven days a week) with integrated planning to ensure each site runs smoothly and managing reciprocal interferences.
Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane is also Official Global Rail Carrier for Expo 2015 through Trenitalia.
Throughout the Universal Exhibition’s six-month duration, 236 scheduled trains will arrive in Milan every day, including 148 Trenitalia Freccia trains ensuring 130 thousand seats a day on domestic and international connections. Every day 19 Frecciarossa, 18 Frecciabianca and four InterCity Night trains and 26 trains to and from Switzerland and France will stop at Rho Fiera Expo Milano 2015. Regional and suburban railway services managed by Trenord will also be increased.
The six months of Expo 2015 will also coincide with arrival of the most modern and technological high speed train in Europe – the Frecciarossa 1000 – on Italian High Speed tracks.
The Group’s commitment to Expo also involves railway infrastructures, which have been subjected to special works by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana to improve efficiency and capacity on lines, as well as accessibility, decorum and IT systems in railway terminals.
The latter project regards 500 RFI stations, which have been renovated according to harmonised design lines and fittings to ensure brand identity and made more accessible above all for persons with reduced mobility and additional services and commercial activities have been included.
This project commenced in the region of Lombardy, involving 18 stations and overall investment of over 55 million euros.
Especially for Expo 2015, Milan Central, Milan Porta Garibaldi and Rho-Fiera Milan Stations will be equipped with a Wi-Fi system to ensure that travellers and passers-by can access a virtual station portal providing useful information using mobile devices.