Rome, 18 December 2018
Strengthen the modal interchange systems in the area of the Venice Mestre railway station promoting the interconnection between all types of transport (road and rail) and repair the urban districts of Mestre and Marghera.
These are the fundamental points of the program agreement for the "Renewal of the urban context relating to the Mestre railway station and the construction of a connecting structure between Mestre and Marghera" signed today in Rome, in the presence of Gianfranco Battisti, CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, by Umberto Lebruto, CEO of FS Sistemi Urbani, Maurizio Gentile, Managing Director of the Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, and Luigi Brugnaro, Mayor of Venice.
The objective of the agreement, undertaken by the City of Venice and FS Sistemi Urbani (FS Group Italiane), is to confirm and develop the strategic nature of the Venice Mestre station through the upgrading of modal interchange systems.
The modal integration, initiated by the FS Italiane Group with the construction of a bike park and a multipark, will be completed with the creation of new pedestrian connections and cycle paths, while an elevated structure, owned by RFI, with the characteristics of an urban liveable space, will revive Mestre and Marghera.
This work will become an essential element to complete the connection between the two parts of the city, now divided by the railway axis, to redevelop the station areas, and to rejuvenate those close to urban and social decay. An intervention that will be coordinated and integrated, on the Marghera side, with the construction of the new structures in the Via Ulloa area, a project ready to be submitted for approval by the Municipal Council, and with that of the new Police Headquarters building once occupied from the former Monteverdi School, for which a special Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Ministry of the Interior on 12 December 2018.
The Agreement between the FS Italiane Group and the City of Venice also provides for the construction of new buildings in the areas owned by FS Sistemi Urbani, which overlook the first station platform, and the redevelopment of the ex Poste building, where new facilities will be opened for spaces dedicated to travellers and businesses. The new buildings will be connected to the tram and bus stops, and inserted into the flow of the Venezia Mestre railway station through connection routes inside the buildings.
The agreement also includes projects for the regeneration in urban areas of the former freight yard in via Trento, owned by FS Sistemi Urbani, which envisages the creation of new mixed-use areas, reserving a residential share for the Municipality of Venice and a space for the expansion of Piraghetto Park.
With the expansion of the Park, the re-use of existing buildings and the interventions envisaged in the Program Agreement, the framework for the redevelopment of all the railway areas included in the urban context of Mestre is complete.
"The Program Agreement signed today concludes the path taken together with the City of Venice for the improvement of the services offered in the Mestre station, both for services to travellers and for the connections between the various modes of transport", highlighted Umberto Lebruto , CEO of FS Sistemi Urbani. "The new multi-storey car park of FS Sistemi Urbani, the bike park, the railway docks, the urban and extra-urban bus stops, and the new underground tram station will be connected by new cycling and pedestrian routes. New facilities will accommodate people arriving in Mestre, just a few minutes by train from the Venezia Santa Lucia train station. With the Agreement, the FS Italiane Group starts planning the redevelopment of all the railway areas of Mestre and immediately guarantees the rehabilitation of the area with the expansion of the Piraghetto Park."
"Today's signing once again demonstrates the commitment of RFI in promoting integrated and sustainable mobility, for the benefit of commuters, tourists and citizens - said Maurizio Gentile, CEO of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana - as well as a new station concept that can represent a new place to live and, in this specific case, also an opportunity to mend parts of the city separated by the tracks. The stations are being transformed to try to offer new complementary services, connected to the journey but also to leisure activities, in osmosis with the area in which they are inserted, according to a coherent logic that focuses on people traveling. An essential element for this new station concept is the dialogue with the Local Authorities, which plan mobility and urban transformation."
"I sincerely want to thank the CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato Gianfranco Battisti for having believed in this great investment made in Mestre, in Marghera, and throughout the city of Venice. With this agreement - commented the Mayor of Venice, Luigi Brugnaro - not only a restructuring and redevelopment project has been started on one of the most important transit stations in Italy, but we are starting a strategic link between two neighbourhoods. An innovative result also from the social point of view because, thanks to the recovery of the entire area, it will allow a person to reach the centre of Mestre from the centre of Marghera comfortably on foot in total safety and in a decent and modern surrounding environment . This urban area will become the place where people will want to live and be happy."