ITALY: Revenue passenger services on the newly-built Bari – Bitritto line began on January 9, following an inauguration ceremony the previous day.
The standard gauge electrified single-track line is 11·9 km long, with 2·5 km running parallel to the existing Bari – Taranto main line and the rest on a new alignment, including 3 km of viaducts. The €110m project was co-financed from the European Union’s Recovery & Resilience Fund.
A station to serve Bari’s San Nicola football stadium is under construction for opening in 2026.
The line is managed by national infrastructure manager RFI, with services operated by national operator Trenitalia under a contract directly awarded by the Puglia region.
There are 14 trains each way from Monday to Saturday, and five pairs of trains on Sundays and holidays. The journey time is 20 min, with simultaneous departures from each terminus and trains crossing at Bari Santa Rita station. The short platforms mean only Alstom Jazz ETR 324 electric multiple-units are able to operate on the line.
‘Today we launched a long-awaited line, and now we have to calibrate the timetable to the needs of users’, said Puglia regional Councillor for Transport Anita Maurodinoia.
Mayor of Bari Antonio Decaro said the new railway ‘allows residents to reach the city centre in just a few minutes, bringing people and places closer together and heavily influencing the quality of life’.
The project was first proposed in 1986, when it would have formed part of the 950 mm gauge network now known as Ferrovie Appulo Lucane.
