INTRO: Both freight and passenger traffic on the Italian network have suffered because of a weak economy, but Trenitalia has made rapid strides in its drive to become a commercial business. Murray Hughes met Corporate Strategy Director Paolo Celentani in Roma
IN THE two years since its launch Trenitalia has made rapid strides in its drive to become a truly commercial business. For the moment this is not reflected in traffic figures, as the Italian economy has been in the doldrums. Industrial production fell last year, and Corporate Strategy Director Paolo Celentani says that the downturn inevitably affected both freight and passenger traffic.
Another factor affecting Trenitalia’s passenger traffic was the arrival of competition from low-cost airlines, forcing a rethink of policy. Meridiana, for example, relaunched as a low-cost carrier and set about attacking Trenitalia’s long-distance domestic traffic, much of which moves overnight. In contrast to many other European railways, Trenitalia runs numerous overnight services, and the buoyancy of this traffic justified investment in the refurbishment of large numbers of couchette cars a few years ago.
Three other airlines joined in the attack, and Trenitalia was faced with serious erosion of its business. Trains were no longer the preferred way to travel over long distances, with the 19h of a Palermo - Milano trip comparing poorly with a flight of less than 2h for a similar or lower price.
Trenitalia’s response was to launch a series of promotions with quota-controlled low fares. These were pitched to attract clientele from the airlines, with seat prices at €15, couchettes at €30 and sleeping car berths at just €45.
Trenitalia quickly found that €10 could make a difference in a price-sensitive market, and the company believes this has kept more passengers from switching to the airlines.
Special offers are also being introduced on selected day services. For example a €30 fare was offered on two pairs of Eurostar Italia trains between Roma Tiburtina and Milano Rogoredo between February 15 and March 31. Frequent traveller cards and concessions are now heavily promoted, and ticketless travel with internet booking is now available.
Image transformed
Celentani is especially pleased to point out that Trenitalia is turning round the image of train travel. Not long ago, rail travel in Italy was seen as the mode of last resort. ’We had to live with rail being a sort of inferior good, which was only used when there was no better alternative. Now people who want to make good use of their time see the train as an opportunity’, he says.
This turnround follows partly from the success of the Eurostar Italia high speed train network built up using ETR450, ETR460 and ETR500 trainsets. While some of this is new traffic, the number of passengers using conventional inter-city trains is falling as they are replaced by Eurostar trains.
The results from an independent survey of passengers’ perception of Trenitalia are encouraging. Whereas three years ago ’it was the least loved of all big corporations in Italy’, it now enjoys an image comparable to the most prominent public and private groups in the country. Winning the image battle is of major significance for Trenitalia’s future, believes Celentani. ’Trenitalia is a success story so far, and people’s attitudes and expectations are better - and this extends to the political view too.’ He points to the government’s willingness to spend on rail infrastructure (Fig 1), noting that ’the perspectives for development are good - just look at RFI’s intensive investment programme.’ The public’s choice in favour of rail is a new element in Italian transport policy, he comments.
Stand-alone freight
Trenitalia’s freight business is also in the throes of change. The present business unit is poised to become a separate subsidiary (RG 4.04 p182), likely to be known as Cargo SpA. ’Freight was our historic problem’, says Celentani, ’but now we have a clear vision with good financial figures. We know exactly where we are making money and where we are losing it, so we are concentrating on the money-making services’. At the same time, as many companies depend on our loss-making services we take care not to create too much trouble for these customers, while keeping faith with our policy.’
With liberalisation allowing open-access operators to compete for traffic, Celentani will only comment that ’it is a little early to say what will happen’. He notes that new operators are making rapid progress. ’If we add their traffic to ours, it is stable or even growing, despite the unfavourable economic conditions. So the revitalisation wanted by the European Union seems to be working in Italy. Of course, it is a stimulus for us as we have to compare our performance with our competitors. For example, we have improved our punctuality on the Brenner route into Austria by 20%.’
Separating the freight business will see a further drive to improve staff productivity - at the moment freight trains still require two fully-qualified drivers.
Before the separation of the freight business, the number of Trenitalia staff was around 60000 and in the 10 years from 1991 to 2001 productivity grew by 7% a year. Nevertheless, Celentani feels that there is still room for more efficiency as commercial pressures increase.
TABLE: Table I. Trenitalia traffic in 2002-03
2002 2003*
Passenger-km, million long-distance 25973 24880
regional 19983 20227
Total 45956 45107
Tonne-km, billion
Trenitalia 20679 20296
Private operators 2380 2160
* Provisional figures
CAPTION: Recently-delivered traction includes these E464 push-pull locomotives that are deployed on local and regional passenger services
CAPTION: Eurostar Italia services have expanded steadily, with ETR500 trainsets now operating regular-interval services on the busy Milano - Roma corridor Photo:David Campione
CAPTION: Fig 1. Italian railway investment has risen sharply since 1997, with substantial sums going into both conventional infrastructure and the Alta Capacità high speed network being developed by TAV (p275)
CAPTION: Trenitalia’s fleet of TAF double-deck EMUs has taken over many suburban services around major cities including Milano and Roma
Photo:Maurizio Tolini
Trenitalia goûte au succès commercial
Sur le réseau italien, les trafics fret et voyageurs ont souffert en raison d’une économie affaiblie au cours des deux années écoulées, mais Trenitalia a réalisé des pas de géant dans sa démarche, afin de devenir une affaire commerciale. Les services à grande vitesse Eurostar Italia ont aidé à la transformation complète de l’image de la compagnie, de sorte que le rail n’apparait plus comme le mode du dernier recours; Trenitalia a répondu de manière agressive a une attaque des compagnies aériennes à bas prix pour ce qui concerne ses liaisons de nuit entre le nord et le sud de l’Italie. Selon Paolo Celentani, Directeur de la stratégie d’entreprise, des progrès vont être réalisés également dans le domaine du fret: ’la revitalisation voulue par l’Union Européenne semble fonctionner’
Trenitalia spürt wirtschaftlichen Erfolg
Sowohl der Güter- wie auch der Personenverkehr haben unter der schwachen Wirtschaftslage der letzten paar Jahre gelitten, aber Trenitalia verzeichnete gute Fortschritte in der Entwicklung zu einer wirtschaftlich erfolgreichen Unternehmung. Die Eurostar Italia-Hochgeschwindigkeits-züge trugen dazu bei, das Image der Unternehmung derart zu verbessern, dass die Bahn nicht mehr als Verkehrsmittel der letzten Wahl wahrgenommen wird, und Trenitalia antwortete mit einer aggressiven Kampagne auf die Angriffe auf ihre Nachtverbindungen zwischen Nord- und Süditalien durch Billigfluggesellschaften. Gemäss Paolo Celentani, Direktor für Unternehmensstrategie, sind auch im Gütergeschäft Fortschritte zu verzeichnen: ’die von der EU gewünschte Revitalisierung scheint zu funktionieren’
Trenitalia saborea el éxito comercial
El tr
