New connections to summer tourist destinations, cities of art and villages. More intermodal and digital services for the benefit of travellers, to move in an increasingly comfortable and sustainable way, also thanks to new solutions combined with train, bus, ship or plane. The 2024 Summer Experience of the Passenger Hub of the FS Group – made up of Trenitalia (lead company), Busitalia, Ferrovie del Sud Est and FS Treni Turistici Italiani – starts on 9 June and is enriched with latest generation trains also purchased with PNRR funds directly assigned to Trenitalia. The novelties of the summer season were presented today in Rome by Luigi Corradi, CEO and General Manager of Trenitalia.
Over 700 summer destinations that can be reached every day. In detail, the summer offer includes more than 270 Arrows daily, for over 130,000 seats offered. Intercity and Intercity Notte will travel to more than 230 cities (70 summer destinations). The 6,000 regional trains per day, 560 in Sicily, will reach over 1,700 destinations in a widespread manner, of which 500 are tourist destinations.
“The train is the protagonist of people's lives, not only as a means of transport, but also as a place and space in which it is possible to consolidate and spread a common culture in favor of health, inclusion and sustainability. The Trenitalia Summer Experience that we present today allows us to offer a unique model of excellence, thanks to thousands of trains and buses that move millions of people every day”stated Stefano Cuzzilla, President of Trenitalia.
“We have archived an extraordinary year which leaves behind a significant increase in the satisfaction expressed by customers in terms of quality and reliability of the service. The multiple initiatives undertaken in these three years have, in fact, allowed us to improve customer satisfaction results and our entire offer is permeated by sustainability, which translates into investments for a younger fleet, in intermodal services that allow you to leave the car and in technological innovations that will guarantee an even more complete and quality travel experience. We look forward to summer with enthusiasm. The forecasts for 2024 indicate further growth, supported by internal demand for all the business divisions and companies of the Hub, in particular for the tourism segment; with an important boost that also comes from international connections”declared Luigi Corradi, CEO and General Director of Trenitalia.
In the first 4 months of the year, 268 million people traveled on board the vehicles of the FS Group Passenger Hub (+5% compared to 2023), of which 191 million in Italy. In the same period, Trenitalia transported 150 million travelers who, by traveling by train, generated savings of 700 million euros in environmental and social costs (expenses for healthcare, damage to the environment, agriculture, buildings and biodiversity) and avoided the emission of 900,000 tonnes of CO into the air2 compared to using the car. To compare energy consumption and CO emissions2 of a train journey compared to the same journey made by other means, Trenitalia has recently integrated “Ecopassenger” into its sales systems.
Trenitalia's 2023 was a record year: over 500 million travellers, 30 million more than the previous year (+18%). Strongly positive net result compared to 2022, driven by the increase in traffic revenues which affected all businesses, but in particular the High Speed segment.
Innovation and attention to travelers are the drivers that guide the investments of Trenitalia and the Passenger Hub. Investment spending in 2023 exceeded 1.8 billion euros, of which 1.1 billion was earmarked for fleet renewal. In the coming years, increasingly younger, modern and technologically advanced trains will circulate. Frecciarossa has an investment plan of over 1 billion euros for the purchase of 46 new high-speed trains which will begin to circulate by the end of 2025. For regional transport, 459 new trains have entered service in the last 5 years Rock, Pop and Blues. News also for Intercity: the new hybrid trains purchased with PNRR funds are circulating in Calabria, Basilicata and Puglia. An investment of 60 million euros which is part of a broader plan for the South, again financed with PNRR funds, which includes another 140 million for 70 night carriages that will travel to and from Sicily.
The Intercity offer for Sicily
For those who choose Sicily as a destination to spend their holidays, the entire offer of Intercity Day trips to and from Rome and Intercity Night trips connecting Rome and Milan to Sicily has been confirmed. Since last December, Intercity Day ferrying between Calabria and Sicily has been carried out with a battery-powered locomotive, with a consequent saving in terms of emissions. 32 Blu Jet (FS Italiane Group) high-speed transport runs between Messina and Villa San Giovanni which guarantee daily connections with the Frecce arriving and departing from Villa San Giovanni, which continue to Rome, Milan, Turin and Venice, and with the Intercity trains that depart from Reggio Calabria and continue the journey to Rome and Milan, and the pair of Intercity Nights that continue to Turin, for a better ship-train connection.
With the Regional to reach the tourist destinations of the island
The additional connections introduced by the Regional Trenitalia in agreement with the Sicilian Region that commissioned the service will also be circulating in the summer of 2024, to accompany tourists and regular travelers to discover places of high cultural and landscape value.
In the comfort of the new Sicilian regional trains, the 25 Pop and 17 BluesCefalù is now a confirmation Line, service much appreciated in the summer by travelers and tourists, which connects Palermo and the “Falcone e Borsellino” international airport to Cefalù. In detail, 4 new connections are planned between Palermo Centrale and Cefalù from Monday to Friday, 9 additional connections on Saturday (5 from Palermo Centrale to Cefalù, 4 from Cefalù to Palermo) and 18 additional connections on Sundays and public holidays (9 from Palermo to Cefalù and 9 in the opposite direction). Furthermore, on Saturdays and public holidays there is a direct connection between Palermo Airport and Cefalù which includes 5 trips on Saturday and 12 on Sunday.
Also on Saturdays and holidays, a pair of connections between Palermo Airport and Milazzo, gateway to the Aeolian Islands, returns to circulation.
On the Ionian coast Taormina Line provides 6 additional connections on public holidays distributed as follows: 2 from Catania Fontanarossa Airport to Letojanni, 1 from Catania Centrale to Letojanni and 3 from Letojanni to Catania Centrale, which join the new regional connections on the Messina-Catania-Syracuse line introduced in April to better meet the mobility needs of commuters and tourists moving between the three cities.
There are a total of 97 connections on weekdays between Palermo Centrale and Palermo Airport (70 on Saturdays and 47 on holidays).
On the Messina Centrale – S. Agata di Militello line, the service is enriched with stops in the stations of Oliveri, Falcone, Novara-Montalbano-Furnari for 6 connections on public holidays.
The Taormina service is always available to commuters and tourists Links, between the Taormina-Giardini station and the Taormina village, thanks to the ASM Taormina buses; the Fontanarossa Airlinka combined train+bus service born from the collaboration between Trenitalia and AMTS Catania, which allows you to reach the Catania Airport terminal by bus in just a few minutes from the Catania Fontanarossa train stop, connecting the main tourist destinations such as Taormina, Syracuse , Letojanni.
Multiple connections with ports and tickets that can be purchased in a single solution
Trenitalia has activated a series of collaborations that allow you to purchase the “train+ship” ticket in a single solution, directly on its channels and among the new features of this year, the partnership between Grimaldi Lines and Regionale di Trenitalia, thanks to which , it will be possible to arrive by train in Naples and leave for Palermo (and vice versa). With the SNAV Link service you can reach the islands of the Gulf of Naples and the Aeolian Islands.