Trenitalia announces new timetable promising a full ‘summer experience’

Published on 18-06-2024 at 10:12

Sea, sun, and train. Trenitalia is promoting a summer of rail travel. Image: Trenitalia.

Italy’s national carrier, Trenitalia, has expanded its timetable for an expected summer of content among domestic passengers. The state-owned operator, the backbone of the government’s Passenger Business Unit of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, has announced its 2024 “Summer Experience” timetable. The nationwide schedule emphasises a collaboration with Busitalia, the state-regulated road passenger carrier.

Summer Experience had a typically Italian (i.e., very glamorous) launch at Rome’s Gallery of Twenty-First Century Art. Government and industry leaders were eager to promote the integration of train and bus, together with the regional rail operator Ferrovie del Sud Est and the specialist leisure sector FS Treni Turistici Italiani, which operates premium touring trains around Italy. The launch event emphasised new and enhanced connections to popular summer destinations to meet the growing demand for domestic rail travel.

Reduce reliance on cars for independent travel

Italy’s famously congested roads have been identified as a restraint on economic growth, notably in the leisure sector. The 2024 Summer Experience timetable introduces a new emphasis on improved public transport access to tourist hotspots. Trenitalia is being promoted as the prime mover, taking passengers from the traffic-generating cities, particularly in the north and centre of Italy. Trains would then deliver passengers directly to tourist destinations or transport hubs. From there, better-integrated feeder bus services will take passengers to their final destinations.

Italy’s younger-than-average passenger demographic is seen as more open to embracing rail for leisure travel. Their recently launched marketing campaign (“Your Summer” in the video above) reflects that, with the suitably club classic soundtrack. The primary aim of the new timetable is to reduce reliance on car travel. The collateral benefit would be attracting domestic and international independent travellers – perhaps including DJ Spiller and Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Overall growth and international collaborations

Forecasts for 2024 indicate significant growth across all business divisions, with a pronounced surge in the tourism segment. To answer increased demand, the FS Treni Turistici Italiani—the leisurely paced and premium special touring trains—will expand operations this year. Touring trains will connect Italian cities with popular resort areas, such as the terraced town of Cinque Terre, Pisa’s famous tower, the historic border market town of Ventimiglia, and the year-round Alpine resort of Cortina.

For puzzled UK readers – this is a “Dining Car” on a Trenitalia touring train. Image: © Trenitalia.

Government figures show that overall train and bus passenger numbers have hit a record for Italy. According to the state-owned transport holding company, the first four months of this year saw a five per cent rise, year on year, compared with 2023. Trenitalia transported an impressive 150 million passengers. The company calculated that the environmental and social costs saved amounted to €700 million and avoided 900,000 tonnes of CO2.

International connections still missing Milan-Paris

“Trenitalia’s Summer Experience allows us to offer a unique model of excellence thanks to thousands of trains and buses that transport millions of people every day,” said Stefano Cuzzilla, Chairman of Trenitalia. “Trains play a key role in people’s lives, not only as a means of transport but also as a place and space where a common culture of health, inclusion and sustainability can be consolidated and spread.”

Works of contemporary art. Trenitalia promo display at Rome’s Gallery of 21st Century Art to welcome guests to the launch. Image: © Trenitalia.

International operations also have a healthy outlook. Eurocity trains operated jointly with Swiss railways, connect Milan and Venice to key Swiss cities via the border crossing at Lugano and onward to Zurich. NightJet sleeper services, operated in partnership with Austrian railways, link Germany and Austria with northern Italian cities, including Milan and Genoa.

In a significant announcement, Trenitalia CEO Luigi Corradi confirmed the reopening of the Frecciarossa connection between Milan and Paris by the end of the year. This service was halted in August last year due to a catastrophic landslide in France. That prompted the closure of the Frejus Railway, the primary rail border crossing between Italy and France. According to the French authorities, the reopening of this crucial infrastructure is still on schedule to be completed by late this year. That’s not quite in time for the 2024 Summer Experience, but something Europe’s rail operators are certainly anticipating in 2025.