Milan, 31 January 2019
Another of the Vivalto trains belonging to Trenitalia (FS Italiane Group) has been delivered in Lombardy to serve local commuters.
The delivery of another train is part of the series of commitments taken by FS Italiane and Trenitalia to ensure the relaunch of rail transport in Lombardy.
The Vivalto train is the fourteenth that Trenitalia has made available to Trenord in less than four months. That is a higher figure than the one agreed on 31 August 2018 by FS Italiane and the Region of Lombardy.
The characteristics of the Vivalto, the details of action taken in 2018 and the programme for deliveries to be made in 2019 were outlined today in Milan. Amongst those present were Attilio Fontana and Claudia Terzi, President of the Region of Lombardy and the Regional Councillor for Transport and Sustainable Mobility Infrastructure, Gianfranco Battisti and Orazio Iacono, the CEOs and General Managers of FS Italiane and Trenitalia, Andrea Gibelli, President of Ferrovie Nord Milano, and Marco Piuri, the CEO of Trenord.
“In Lombardy, as in all the other Italian regions,” said Gianfranco Battisti, CEO and General Manager of FS Italiane” we are working to meet the needs of those who use the train every day to travel around the city and the region. On 31 August 2018 I assured regional president Fontana that Trenord would change course. With 14 new trains, twenty resources in service and a new company board, we have completed the first phase of the plan to relaunch train transport in Lombardy. In 2019 we will keep working so that Trenord's new business organisation can help reduce train cancellations and improve punctuality.”
“More reliable trains and greater transport capacity. That is Trenitalia's most important contribution to train transport in Lombardy,” said Orazio Iacono, CEO and General Manager of Trenitalia. “Together with the Trenitalia trains, Pop and Rock trains will also come to Lombardy. These are regional trains that are designed and built to meet the needs of commuters and with greater focus on people with reduced mobility and disabilities, thus ensuring a real turn-around in city and regional rail transport in Italy.”
The first tranche of 14 trains will be followed, already next month, by the delivery of a further 35 trains, that will progressively be made available to Trenord. The first twenty trains will be delivered by Trenitalia between June and December 2019. A further ten latest-generation trains, five Rocks and five Pops – will arrive in Lombardy by July 2019 and, finally, a further five Pops in the first months of 2020.
The regional Rock and Pop trains that are being built in the Italian facilities run by Hitachi and Alstom are part of the major order – which is unprecedented in terms of overall number and worth – made by Trenitalia and will ensure levels that have never been seen in regional rail transport in Italy with regard of performance, comfort and environmental compatibility.
So in the short to medium term, Trenitalia will make available a total of 49 trains to Trenord, thus providing the conditions required to guarantee a level of regional transport service that is in line with the needs of people who choose the train for their daily travel in Lombardy. This is a region that, in terms of traffic volumes, is a very significant area of the country.
Also in relation to this aim, and to best support Trenord, Trenitalia has also guaranteed that there will be a service with 20 employees (train drivers and conductors) that will ensure 22 services a day.
FS Italiane Group's significant commitment at a national level to ensure – through relaunching regional rail transport, an improvement in the quality of life of the 1.5 million commuters who every day use Trenitalia trains to travel, mainly for work or study – has also been confirmed in Lombardy. This is an effort that is in line with the indications of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, which will become even more substantial with FS Italiane's new business plan.