The post-Covid summer will be a summer of nearby holidays and Trenitalia's offer has adjusted accordingly: protection of travellers, upgrading of routes for tourist resorts, by the sea but also in the mountains, e last mile coverage. The summer timetable presented by FS enters into force on 14 June and presents several new features. Meanwhile, a paradigm shift: after months of blockade, rail transport is back to almost full capacity and represents a decisive tool for restarting the country, through tourism. “In the last two years we have produced important results, but that is now a thing of the past,” said l'To Gianfranco Battisti, after having also listed the FS initiatives linked to the emergency phase: “I thank all the railway workers for their extraordinary commitment and attachment to corporate values. During the lockdown we transported 5 million tons of goods, especially food and medical supplies, and we made medical personnel travel free of charge".
After giving the country a hand, now is the time to restart it. There are necessarily fewer seats on trains, but on the other hand, routes and connections increase. Under the banner of health protection (a free welcome safety kit is also distributed on the Arrows), the relaunch of tourism, sustainability and last mile coverage, explains Ferrovie dello Stato in the presentation press conference, via the web. “On the Frecce trains alone, we provide 40.000 seats a day, with 250 new stops”, reveals Orazio Iacono, CEO of Trenitalia. There are some absolute novelties: for a few days already, for the first time in history too Calabria is reached from Frecciarossa and Frecciargento. The idea is to truly connect all of Italy, from the Dolomites to the Strait, and for this reason the Sibari-Bolzano section has been upgraded. But that's not all: from Trentino, as well as from Turin and Milan, more trains will leave for the Adriatic coast. It will be 32 a day.
To the already announced novelty of the "Frecciarossa of the sea", ie the Milan-Rome which twice a day will "deviate" from the usual Apennine axis on the Tyrrhenian coast, passing through Genoa, the Cinque Terre, Versilia and the Argentario, those relating to Puglia and Sicily have also been added. The former will have direct high-speed connections with Florence and Rome for the first time, while to reach the island it will be possible to arrive on the Frecciarossa up to Villa San Giovanni and then take the connection by ship, still with the Fs license plate and organized so that schedules are integrated. In short, never before have the FS trains wanted this year get just anywhere, to satisfy the Italians' desire for a "domestic" holiday. “Even for those who prefer the mountains, we have added connections,” added Iacono. In addition to those already mentioned for Trentino-Alto-Adige, there is also the new Bolzano-Venice, for now only at the weekend, and the Bolzano-Rome which becomes Bolzano-Ancona at the weekend, to connect the mountains and the sea.
News also on Piedmont, where one Naples-Turin per day will extend as far as Bardonecchia. "The mountain resorts will be covered with 18 Frecciarossa buses a day - explains Iacono -, all connected with the FrecciaLink bus service". Coverage of the last mile from this summer will not only be guaranteed with ships and buses, but in the name of sustainability and so-called soft mobility, the transport of bicycles on trains will also be facilitated. From the outset, there will be 128 bike spaces on some regional trains, i.e. a dedicated whole carriage. “By February – adds the CEO of Trenitalia – the entire Intercity fleet will also have carriages for transporting bicycles”. Then, to make travel easier in times of social distancing, FS went even more digital, with new services and more paperless payment methods. On Frecciarossa from 22 June there is a farewell to ticket control, replaced by self check-in via app, which will soon also arrive on regional trains.
The regional networks will connect more than 1.700 locations with six thousand daily connections. Finally, the economic question. This will be a difficult summer for many Italians and Fs would like to take this into account. The promotions on trains, given the reduced seats, will be more difficult to find, but on the other hand Trenitalia reserves dedicated offers. For example, to travel without restrictions on all regional trains and in any destination, between 12 on Friday and 12 on Monday, from Wednesday 24 June it is It is possible to buy a single ticket for 49 euros for four weekends or 149 euros for all weekends. Also from Wednesday 24 June and throughout the summer of 2020, children up to 15 years of age travel for free on regional trains.
