The big news of the Fs winter season is that of theintegration between rail and air transport: after having focused in the past on rail-road intermodal connections (with the FRECCIAlink bus service to reach places not covered by high speed), this time it's the airports' turn and the Leonardo da Vinci at Fiumicino is at the center of the project, first Italian airport by number of passengers. For the first time, starting from December 18, the Roman airport will be reachable directly from Venice with the Frecciarossa (until today there were 4 journeys with the Frecciargento) and two new journeys with the Frecciargento will also guarantee connections with the cities of Florence, Pisa, La Spezia and Genoa. After all, a connection with the air market was in the air, given the rumors of FS joining Alitalia, confirmed by CEO Gianfranco Battisti at a press conference: "We are talking to many operators, including Easyjet but not Alone. We may soon be in a position to announce something definite. We are registering a lot of interest around the planning capacity of FS and its leadership to manage this process".
MILAN-ROME AND THE SOUTH
In the new program there is also aintensification of the Milan-Rome connection, which remains the main one with three new trips for a total of 104 per day. The first train departing from Milano Centrale (which will also pass through Rogoredo and the Reggio Emilia Mediopadana station) is brought forward to 5.20: in this way you can be in Rome as early as 8.29. The last arrival in Rome is expected at midnight. Non-stops are increasing: there are now 56 Frecciarossa trains connecting the Colosseum and Madonnina in less than three hours, with no intermediate stops between the two cities or stopping only at Bologna Centrale
The Frecciarossa connections between Milan and Venice rise to 48 and the two Frecciarossa connections on the Genoa - Milan - Venice route are confirmed. The pair of return trains connects the Ligurian capital (big news for 2018) to the lagoon city, stopping in Milan, Brescia, Verona, Vicenza and Padua. Between Turin and Milan "only" two more Frecciarossa trains, while much attention has been paid to the South: for the first time, Trenitalia's high-speed train symbol will connect Turin and Lecce, via Milan and the Adriatic coast. In less than 7 hours it will be possible to go from Milan to Bari, with a direct train. Also for the South from 9 December they are foreseen two new Frecciargento trips at the weekend which bring the connections between Rome and Bari up to 10.
NOT ONLY HIGH SPEED
There is not only high speed in the new winter timetable presented by the Railways in Milan: they integrate the Frecce offer 108 connections per day InterCity and InterCity Notte, which reach more than 200 cities and tourist destinations in Italy. Also confirmed are the 48 daily connections with France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Also the Thello network on the Venice – Milan – Dijon – Paris route by night train and on the Milan – Genoa – Nice – Marseille route by day train.
As regards the aforementioned buses, around 30 buses a day will reach 20 destinations, including Matera, the 2019 European capital of culture, and mountain resorts with the integrated train+bus service of Trenitalia. The FRECCIAlink arrives in Matera with 4 trips a day from/to Salerno, in connection with the Frecciarossa to Rome, Florence, Bologna, Milan and Turin, journeys which will be increased, from 20 January, with an additional 2 buses a day between Matera and Bari, in connection with the Frecciarossa which travel along the Adriatic line reaching Milan and Turin.
REGIONAL
The Regional offer according to Fs expands and improves, also thanks to the Service Contracts signed with the Regions, in a generalized manner with targeted interventions on important areas and guidelines. This will be the case between Bologna and Romagna with 24 trains a day between the capital of Bologna and the Romagna Riviera (via Ravenna) and 24 journeys for the new metropolitan service between Bologna and Imola. In Liguria, 18 connections between Savona – Genoa – Sestri Levante and the return of the 5 Terre Express from March XNUMXst. With 4 more seats to accompany commuters and tourists from western Liguria to eastern Liguria. The offer between Rome Termini and the international airport of Rome Fiumicino is growing with 16 new journeys of the Leonardo Express which become 126 per day.
In Campania, a train every 8 minutes to Naples to cross all the stations of the Campania capital in just 20 minutes and a train every 15 from Campi Flegrei to Pozzuoli. A completely revisited new offer for Puglia between Barletta and Fasano and speeded up on the Foggia – Bari – Lecce route. On the Passante di Palermo, 12 more connections from Punta Raisi to the Sicilian capital. The news of the timetable, in the regional, are associated with the recent one debut of caring and safety activities dedicated to commuters, first experience in Europe, and the now imminent start, from spring 2019, of the supply of the first 78 brand new Rock and Pop trains, together with the delivery of other Jazz and Swing trains. A modernization of the fleet destined to positively revolutionize the travel experience of those millions of Italians who take the train for their daily journeys.
REQUESTS
The promotions continue and intensify, to make traveling with Trenitalia even more convenient, and the partnerships between the FS Italiane Group and the main museums and organizations that organize cultural, musical and artistic events in the country which will grant exclusive advantages and discounts to families and customers CartaFRECCIA. To enrich their travel experience also the media of the FS Group, from La Freccia to Note, now in digital version on trenitalia.com, to the galaxy of social media up to the Frecce Portal, which also offers programming dedicated to children. On the digital communication front, it should be noted that the on-board Wi-Fi, thanks to an innovative and high-performance data traffic aggregation system, will allow a more stable and powerful connection in the coming months, with a progressive diffusion on all Frecciarossa 1000 trains during 2019.
