ITALY: Services restarted on the Torino – Ceres regional line between central Torino, Caselle airport and Cirié on January 20 following the completion of the first phase of remodelling and reconstruction works.
An opening ceremony on the previous day was attended by Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini; Gianpiero Strisciuglio, CEO of infrastructure manager RFI; and Luigi Corradi, CEO of national operator Trenitalia, alongside other national and local dignities.
Remodelling
The project consisted of rebuilding the Torino – Ceres line, which had previously been an isolated railway not connected to the national network since Torino’s cross-city Passante was completed more than 20 years ago. The remodelling at the city end of the line now allows trains to run into the Passante tunnels and serve hubs at Porta Susa and Lingotto; the route’s previous terminus at Dora has been closed.
The 1·8 km underground section from Corso Grosseto to Dora saw its last trains in August 2020. Since then, a 2·7 km long deep-level junction has been built at Corso Grosseto, creating a chord that meets the Passante corridor at Rebaudengo Fossata.
An underground station at Grosseto has been built to replace that at nearby Madonna di Campagna. Meanwhile, the abandoned tunnel between Corso Grosseto and Dora is to be redeveloped for future use by municipal operator GTT’s tram route 12. This will link Juventus’ Allianz football stadium in the northwest of the city with Corso Lepanto in the south. This project was fully funded last September.
Ownership change
Until its closure, the Torino – Ceres line had been owned and operated by GTT. In December, the railway infrastructure was transferred to national infrastructure manager RFI, and with effect from January 1 the railway is managed by RFI and operated by national operator Trenitalia. The acquisition included the transfer of 110 GTT employees.
Reconstruction
The whole Torino – Ceres line was closed for reconstruction in June. Modernisation work northwest of Cirié towards Ceres is underway, with completion expected later this year.
The project so far has covered reconstruction of bridges, elimination of level crossings and deployment of the SCMT train control system. The line speed has been increased from 70 km/h to 120 km/h. Torino Aeroporto and Rigola Stadio stations have been rebuilt to be fully accessible.
‘Piemonte takes a significant step forward in terms of connections. The main airport will be directly connected to the centre of Torino as in all modern European capitals, but the real turning point will be for the sustainable mobility of the Lanzo valleys which will shorten journey times to the regional capital’, said Piemonte’s Regional Councillor for Transport Marco Gabusi at the opening ceremony on January 19.
Services
The line is currently served by suburban routes 4 and 7, part of the SFM network of intensive regional services radiating from Torino. The two routes link Cirié to Alba and Fossano via the Passante corridor. A combined half-hourly service is offered between Cirié and central Torino, providing a total of 58 trains each weekday in the two directions.
A shuttle train service is currently running between Cirié and Germagnano, from where replacement buses are serving the rest of the route to Ceres pending completion of renovation work.
