Under a contract worth 4bn euros, work is due to begin in September to apply anti-graffiti film to 1600 passenger vehicles operated by Italian State Railways’ Transport Strategic Business Area, which is responsible for regional and urban services.
Application of film to this first batch of vehicles operating around Torino, Milano, Venezia, Bologna, Firenze, Roma and Napoli is to be completed by the end of this year.
The contract was let following a pilot programme undertaken by FS workshops in Bologna, which involved 80 vehicles. The plastic film can be applied to a trainset in the space of a single day by three people, and by protecting the paintwork allows graffiti to be cleaned off during routine carriage washing.
The Transport SBA operates a fleet of 6000 vehicles in total, and a further 2500 cars are to receive anti-graffiti film in the course of 2000 under subsequent contracts. The TAF double-deck EMUs (RG 9.97 p576) entering service with Transport have been delivered with anti-graffiti protection already in place.
FS’ Passenger SBA, responsible for medium and long-distance services, is expected to begin a similar programme in the first half of next year.
