High-speed rail in Italy currently consists of two lines connecting all the country's major cities. The first line connects Milan to Salerno via Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples, the second runs from Turin to Venice via Milan, and is under construction in parts. The network is designed for a top speed of over 300 km/h (190 mph).
Service is provided by Trenitalia, although other companies, such as NTV, are going to compete on the same lines beginning in 2012.[1]
Several projects are underway to expand the network. Plans include both more domestic connections such as to Genova, and new international connections to France, Austria and Slovenia.
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The first high-speed rail route in Italy, the Direttissima, opened in 1978, connecting Rome with Florence. The top speed on the line was 250 km/h (160 mph), giving an end-to-end journey time of about 90 minutes with an average speed of 200 km/h (120 mph). This line used a 3 KV DC supply.
The first high-speed service was introduced in 1988-89 on the Rome-Milan line with the ETR 450 Pendolino train, with a top speed of 250 km/h and cutting travel times from about 5 hours to 4.[2] The prototype train ETR X 500 was the first italian train to reach 300 km/h (190 mph) on the Direttissima on 25 May 1989.[2]
Service on the line is provided by Trenitalia using Eurostar Italia trains. Several types of high-speed trains, belonging to three major families, carry out the service:
Secondary stock:
New Pendolino ETR 610 are being introduced to the Italy-Switzerland route. TGV trains also run on the Paris-Turin-Milan service, and possibly between Paris and Rome in the future.
The following high-speed rail lines are in use.
| Line | Length km |
Opening | Travel time | Top speed km/h |
Voltage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florence–Rome "Direttissima" | 254 | 24 February 1978 | 1:30 | 250 | 3 kV DC |
| Rome–Naples | 205 | 19 December 2005 - 13 December 2009 | 1:10 | 300 | 25 kV 50 Hz |
| Turin–Milan | 125 | 10 February 2006 (Turin-Novara) 13 December 2009 (Novara-Milan) |
1:00 | 300 | 25 kV 50 Hz |
| Milan–Treviglio[3] | 23 | 2 July 2007 | - | 300 | 3 kV DC |
| Padua–Venice[3] | 25 | 1 March 2007 | - | 300 | 3 kV DC |
| Milan–Bologna | 215 | 13 December 2008[4] | 1:05 | 300 | 25 kV 50 Hz |
| Bologna–Florence | 79 | 13 December 2009 | 0:37 | 300 | 25 kV 50 Hz |
The table shows minimum and maximum (depending on stops) travel times.
| Florence | Milan | Naples | Rome | Turin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bologna | 0:37 | 1:00 | 3:42 (4:00) | 2:02 (2:35) | 2:13 |
| Florence | - | 1:45 | 2:41 (3:10) | 1:23 (1:45) | 2:53 |
| Milan | - | 4:00 (4:30) | 3:00 (3:30) | 0:54 (1:03) | |
| Naples | - | 1:10 | 5:38 (6:33*) | ||
| Rome | - | 4:37 |
*with an exchange
The Milan to Salerno is the major north-south corridor of the high-speed network.
The Milan–Bologna segment opened on 13 December 2008. Its construction cost was about 6.9 billion euro. The 182 km (113 mi) line runs parallel to the Autostrada del Sole, crossing seven provinces and 32 municipalities. There are eight connections with historic lines. At the Reggio Emilia interconnection a new station designed by the Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava is being built. Calatrava has also designed a signature bridge where the line crosses the A1 motorway. The line will travel through a new multi-level station at Bologna (Italy's principal railway junction) designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki, currently under construction.
The Bologna–Florence segment opened on 12 December 2009, allowing a 37-minute journey between the two cities. The Bologna-Florence high-speed section was particularly complex to build mainly because about 93% of its 78.5 km (48.8 mi) runs through tunnels under the Apennines range. The line has a nine tunnels, from 600 meters to 18.5 km (11.5 mi) long, separated by short surface stretches (less than 5 km in total). Florence will have a major new multi-level high speed station at Belfiore designed by British architect Norman Foster.
The Florence–Rome segment consists of the older "Direttissima" (literally: most direct) line between the two cities, with a length of 240 km (150 mi). The first high-speed line in Europe, the "Direttissima" was completed in between 1977 and 1986. This segment is currently being upgraded by Treno Alta Velocità. Entering Rome, high-speed trains have the option of stopping at either the new intermodal station at Tiburtina, developed by architects ABD Associate led by Paolo Desideri, or Termini station.
The Rome to Gricignano di Aversa segment heads south from the Italian capital. Service on the first new high speed segment of the project started in December 2005. This line runs through 61 municipalities in two regions (Latium and Campania) and connects with the existing national rail network at Frosinone Nord, Cassino Sud and Caserta Nord. The segment from Napoli Centrale to Gricignano di Aversa (18 km) is under construction. In the Campania region the line passes through Afragola where a major new transfer station will be developed, designed by Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid.
The Turin to Novara segment of the Turin to Trieste corridor runs for 85 km and opened in February 2006. The Novara to Milan segment opened on 12 December 2009, allowing a 59-minute journey between Milan Centrale and Turin Porta Nuova (45 minutes from Milan Porta Garibaldi to Turin Porta Susa). The two segments combine for total of 125 km, 80% (98 km) of which are in the region of Piemonte (provinces of Turin, Vercelli and Novara) and 20% (27 km) in the region of Lombardy (province of Milan). To minimize its impact on the area, the Turin to Milan segments run inside the existing infrastructure corridor, next to the A4 Turin-Milan motorway.
The Milan to Venice segment includes stretches from Padova to Mestre (for Venice) and Milan to Treviglio now in service. Priority sections of track are under construction: the approval procedures for the Treviglio to Brescia tracks will begin shortly.
A new line connecting Milan to the port of Genoa is now in development and further expansion of the trans-Alpine lines will integrate the Italian network into the European networks planned by the EU and the large intermodal pan-European transport corridors.
The objective of the new Alpine rail links is to increase rail transport, aimed mainly at supporting the forecast development of freight transport on international lines, complete interoperability between European High Speed networks, the shift from road to rail of a large percentage of freight for modal rebalancing, higher safety levels in tunnels as specified in the new European technology and construction standards.
Planned engineering works include the construction of new international lines and the upgrading of existing Italian track on the following lines: Frejus (Turin-Lyons); Gotthard (Chiasso-Monza and Gallarate-Bellinzona); Simplon (Domodossola-Novara); Brenner (Fortezza-Innsbruck); Tarvisio - Semmering (Udine-Tarvisio); Eastern Pass Valico Orientale (Venice-Trieste-Ronchi dei Legionari).
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