ITALY: Following 12 years without passenger services, trains have started running again on two regional railways in the Piemonte region.
The regional government will subsidise each service by €3m annually, says Marco Gabusi, portfolio holder for transport. Trains are to be run by national operator Trenitalia; with buses replacing trains on weekends.
Asti – Alba
At the behest of the region, infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviara Italiana has invested €13m into the renovation of the 33·6 km Asti – Alba line. Passenger services had been suspended due to a deterioration of the infrastructure and a lack of subsidy for operations; the service resumed on September 11.
There are six return train services provided on weekdays. The stations at Asti, Isola d’Asti, Costigliole, Castagnole, Neive and Alba have a total catchment area of 120 000 people.
Gabusi said that in the future, the use of hydrogen-powered rolling stock would be considered, and ‘we have identified disused industrial sites suitable for the production of hydrogen’.
Casale Monferrato – Mortara
Passenger trains also resumed on the 28·4 km Casale Monferrato – Mortara line on September 11. There are seven return trips per day Monday to Friday.
- Reopening of the Torino – Ceres branch which serves Caselle airport is scheduled for early next year. It has been shut for renovation and remodelling following closure of Dora-GTT station in the city centre; trains will instead operate over a deep-level junction to join the cross-city Passante corridor to reach the hubs at Porta Susa and Porta Nuova. Part of the alignment to Dora is to be reused by trams serving the Juventus football stadium.
