The Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the province of Trenitalia have signed an agreement to launch the revival of the Intercity trains (fast trains with intermediate stops).
The agreement was signed on July 31, which has contractual commitments for ten years from 2017 to 2026. It will see the rebirth of the Intercity network system. The network will serve 200 Italian cities, with 108 daily connections patronized by more than 12 million travelers a year.
“Intercity was a terminal ill patient and I can say that we have applied good revival techniques. I trust that it will achieve the success of “Le Frecce” (the fast trains)”, said the minister Del Rio during his presentation,
“Our essential rail transport serving cities where there is no high speed were improved with funds over 100 more million Euro per year. We have greatly improved the service.
The plan is to increase seats by 16% for Intercity day and 7% for Intercity’s offer, more punctuality thanks to the new Rolling stock, new services such as on board traveling cleaning staff, and minibars in longer stretches.
The revival plan also provides for over € 300 million for the conversion of the entire fleet into reversible convoys, in blocked trains which have on one side the locomotive and on the other a semi pilot coach from which to drive the convoy and a remote control of the locomotive.
“our objectives included the consolidation of the bid, avoiding the abandonment of stretches, the overall improvement of the fleet and the improvement of onboard services,” said Trenitalia CEO Barbara Morgante. “Although the contract has been officially signed only recently, I can say that since January we are committed to meeting the commitments. “