Productively taking giant steps forward

Michele Mario Elia, Chief Executive Officer of RFI – the Italian Railway Network company, and wholly owned subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato SpA since September 2006, is a railway veteran who knows how to combine hard work with good humour. In an interview for Global Railway Review, Mr. Elia discusses his current work status and a view of high-speed operations.

We have been told you don’t choose train for your holidays. Is that true?

Actually, I don’t take vacations (he laughs). When I say I have fun working, I am sincere. Otherwise, I couldn’t have done my job. There is an incredible amount of excitement in our work. We are changing Italian society and habits.

For a while we’ve heard about the Italian High Speed/High Capacity project. When will you be able to complete it?

By the end of 2009, the whole Italian HS/HC system (that is: the Turin – Milan – Bologna – Florence – Rome – Naples – Salerno lines) will be completed; but by the end of this year a highly important stretch, from Milan to Bologna, will already be operating. In the meantime, we have opened the Naples – Salerno line, so that the coastal line can be avoided and used just by the regional trains. To all this, of course, you should add the HS/HC lines already operating for years. Indeed on the Rome – Naples line, the trains have been rushing at 300km per hour since December 2005 and the Turin – Novara stretch has been operating since  February 2006. In March 2007, we also activated the Padua – Venice line, important from the tourism point of view; and last July (2007), the Milan – Treviglio stretch, part of the Milan – Brescia line, came into operation and this also has considerable traffic.

What about the Apennine section between Bologna and Florence, maybe the most important part  of the whole Milan – Naples –  Salerno line?

The new HS/HC line from Bologna to Florence, an infrastructure which is a major feat of engineering, will be completed in 2009. With over 73km of tunnels and 1km of viaduct (on a total length of 78.5km) it still surprises many of our European colleagues. Italy alone has 70% of the existing tunnels in Europe.

What is the timing for the  HS/HC stations?

In December we will inaugurate the new Central Station in Milan, where we have realised a shopping area which covers over 30,000 square metres, a big urban plaza, larger than the one built years ago at Termini Station in Rome. In 2010, we will inaugurate the new HS stations of Turin Porta Susa and Rome Tiburtina; while in 2011, the Naples Afragola and the Bologna underground HS terminals will be opened to the public.

How do you join the Italian HS/HC system to Europe? And when will the Italian sections of the European Corridors be ready?

Italy is part of three European Corridors:

• Berlin – Naples (number 1)
• Lisbon – Kiev (number 5)
• Rotterdam – Genoa (number 24), the so called “Two Seas Corridor”.

And we are working on all three. With regard to Corridor 1, besides the lines we have mentioned, at the moment institutional negotiations are under way with local authorities to fix the project. The Brenner Pass project is the focal point of the important Munich – Verona railway link. And the European Community has shown its interest on this railway line by giving a contribution of €9 hundred million. Both in Italy and Austria, the project will be undertaken by the two Governments for their official approvals and to be included in the national  balance sheet item.

After approval, in 2009, the civil engineering works for the 56km tunnel between Innsbruck and Fortezza will be let out on contract. The opening of the Base Tunnel is planned for 2021 with a cost of €6 billion.

There is the political will to build the Turin – Lyon line. A sort of agreement has just been reached with the local communities in Val di Susa, also thanks to the work done by the Multidisciplinary Observatory set up by the government – which includes local majors, railways and government representatives, people or organisms linked to the project. To build the Turin – Lyon line means to get the European funds, to join the European Corridor 5, to give a new economic impulse to the traffic west-east and improve opportunities for the local population. Not to mention the environment value of the Turin – Lyon line which will transfer most of the freight traffic from road to rail. When the link is completed, the aim is to carry 40 million tonnes of freight by rail by 2030, compared to the current amount of just over 6. The “rail highway” will allow for the transfer of nearly a million lorries a year onto the trains. This will not only enable us to reach Lyon from Turin in  just 1 hour and 45 minutes (compared to 4 hours today), but above all to reduce road transport over the Italian and  French Alps by nearly one third. This is a highly significant contribution to sustainable development.

What will the existing line be  used for?

The existing line will be mainly dedicated to regional traffic, so that a higher quality of service can be provided. In this respect, the High Speed system has enabled us to take giant steps forward in the specialisation and optimisation of the entire national network.

Let’s go back to the European Corridors.

Among the new infrastructure corridors for expanding traffic and improving connections with Northern Europe we can also cite Corridor 24, Genoa – Rotterdam. Leaving from the Genoa hub and developing the two stretches Genoa – Milan and Alessandria – Turin, it will intersect Corridor 5 and the Milan –  Turin link.

We should also stress that the Trans European Networks (TEN) must be interoperable and that the European Community has provided 50% funding just to support the investments which  all the European countries will have to make for the transition to the ERTMS/ETCS level 2, the one that Italy already adopted years ago.

Why is ERTMS/ETCS level 2  so successful?

The reason for this success is quite simple: the ERTMS/ETCS (European Rail Traffic Management System/European Train Control System) level 2, exploiting the most up-to-date technology in the field of telecommunications, enables trains to travel at 300kph in total safety, because the system controls the distancing on the High Speed lines and leaves the track almost entirely free of ground signal devices (cables, lateral poles etc.), thus making maintenance easier. At the same time, it guarantees the interoperability of traffic on the European rail network.

What other safety systems do you install in the Italian railway  network to make sure Italian passengers travel safely?

Passengers and travel safety is an absolute priority. At the end of 2007, we completed coverage of the entire rail network with advanced technological systems providing maximum safety: the Driver Support System (SSC) on the approximately 4,500km of low traffic lines and the Train Driving Control System (SCMT) on the remaining 11,550km of electrified lines. As the name itself indicates, the SCMT provides continuous monitoring of the driving of the train with respect to a series of parameters: the conditions set by signals, the maximum speed allowed on the line under normal and problematic conditions, the maximum speed allowed by the rolling stock. If the limits are exceeded, the SCMT automatically triggers emergency braking. This is why its nickname is “the driver’s guardian angel”!

Furthermore, 10,000km (out of the approximately 16,000 forming the Italian rail network) are covered by the GSM-R system, based on mobile telephony used exclusively in the railway sector (“R” stands for “railway”). This also guarantees radio communications on the High Speed/High Capacity lines without ground signalling systems (because of the speed of the trains, the signals would not be visible).

Thanks to radio frequencies reserved to the railway enterprises (in the 900 Mhz band), the GSM-R ensures telecommunications between train and ground personnel and the transmission of data between the network and the train to allow travel in conditions of maximum safety. According to the European directives, it likewise allows for the exchange of data and information between the technological and signalling systems of the various European railways with a single standard of communication. In order to have alternative communication resources, the GSM-R network is interlinked with other GSM networks managed by public operators, to provide a roaming service in the areas not covered by the system.

Speaking of “safety”, tell us about the newborn ANSF, the Italian National Agency for Railways  Safety. Does the birth of this important institution change your work somehow?

The National Agency for Railway Safety (ANSF), created in October 2007 and operational since June 2008, has taken on various tasks involving the issue of regulations, certification and control in rail traffic safety, tasks previously undertaken by the Infrastructure management, i.e. RFI. It is therefore fundamental to guarantee transparency in the Italian railway system, in coherence with European directive, in a delicate sector like safety. The ANSF issues and revokes safety certificates; issues safety regulations and standards and type-tests rolling stock.

How much is RFI currently investing in the rail network?

RFI is currently investing approximately €6 billion per year in its rail network.