Renato Mazzoncini attends the transport conference organised by the Region of Lombardy: “To compete on a continental level in both passenger and freight transport, the country must be equipped with a cutting-edge infrastructure system”
Milan, 24 October 2016
By developing and strengthening the technology and infrastructure of national railway lines used by the four European core corridors - Reno-Alps, Mediterranean, Baltic-Adriatic and Scandinavia-Mediterranean - which cross Italy.
This is the only way that the Italian railway system will be fully connected to the European network. Consequently, work is already under way to upgrade its profile to continental standards - for rail transport of large containers and the so-called rolling roads - to create stop areas and/or passing tracks that can accommodate trains up to 750 metres in length and to install next-gen technologies for establishing safe distances between trains and for managing and controlling rail traffic.
“To compete on a continental level in both passenger and freight transport”, emphasised Renato Mazzoncini, the CEO and Director General of FS Italiane, “the country must be equipped with a cutting-edge infrastructure system that can appropriately meet the transport requirements that will be developed by the market. For national railway infrastructures, one of the pillars of the Industrial Plan 2017-2026 and an integral part of the European system, the FS Italiane Group has set aside €57.5 billion in investment, with 33.5 billion for the conventional network and 24 for the HS/HC network and the European TEN-T Corridors, out of the total 94 billion”.
The infrastructure will be developed in order: to increase integration with the European network; to develop rail connections and traffic along Alpine passes with France, Switzerland and Austria; to significantly improve integrated mobility in major metropolitan areas and urban hubs; and to make passenger and freight transport efficient, effective and environmentally sustainable.
The national railway system will therefore be able to fully meet the recommendations of the White Paper for Transport adopted by the European Union in 2011 which sets the target of 30% of freight transport by railway wagons for distances over 300 km by 2030 and 50% by 2050.