“The possible temporary extension of AV trains on the Rome-Bari route to Taranto is not currently a viable option since the current supply is commensurate with demand”, while with regards to “the extension of the Intercity 703-704 Rome-Bari pair to Taranto, it should be noted that this is not possible”.
In fact, there are two noes – as reported by Quotidiano last Sunday – that Valeria Giovanna Venuto, head of Institutional Affairs at Trenitalia’s Passenger Hub, expressed in a letter of almost three pages to the Puglia Region’s Transport Councillor, Debora Ciliento. In May, the latter had written to Trenitalia suggesting two possible solutions, the Frecciarossa High Speed and the Intercity, so as not to deprive Taranto of direct connections with Rome for the entire summer, given the work in progress along the Taranto-Battipaglia stretch, which in turn is included in the Taranto-Potenza-Naples-Rome line. But the Region has not been able to move Trenitalia. Nothing to be done, therefore, for those who want to go to Rome from Taranto by train. Either they choose to go to Bari, relying on another rail connection, or they arm themselves with patience and subject themselves to the transfer by bus in Battipaglia in one direction or the other.
The answer
In the letter to Ciliento, Venuto begins by saying that “the works on the entire national railway network, which are being carried out in these weeks, are part of a modernization framework planned for the entire Italian railway network financed by Pnrr funds, which, as is known, require strict compliance with execution and delivery times, and by investment funds of the network manager Rfi”. And so until September 10 (it started on June 8) “the Battipaglia-Taranto route will be affected by works carried out by Rfi that will lead to a total block of circulation and that will determine a remodulation of the normal route of trains arriving in Puglia”. For the head of Trenitalia, “the modernization of the network will allow a reduction in travel times on the Naples-Taranto route for long-distance services, greater accessibility of the network and an improvement in the regularity of circulation”.
It follows that the Frecciarossa Milan-Taranto pair via Rome-Potenza will be limited to Salerno “from 10 June to 8 September in a southerly direction and from 11 June to 9 September in the opposite direction”. And explaining why the Frecciarossa cannot be extended from Bari to Taranto, Venuto writes that “the Freccia trains are a segment of the offer made by Trenitalia that is supported exclusively through traffic revenues and, therefore, the definition of the routes, stops and connections to be served is aimed at ensuring their economic sustainability”. And currently, for Trenitalia, the High Speed offer is calibrated on passenger demand.
The Intercity
Three, instead, are the reasons that Trenitalia gives to explain why not even the Intercity trains between Rome and Bari can be extended to Taranto. First of all, “with the maintenance of the current timetables, the extension would involve further use of vehicles that are currently not available”. Furthermore, the request of the Puglia Region “would involve the postponement of the IC 704 train from Bari by about 1h 10′ compared to today, creating an impact for about 600 passengers already booked (a number destined to grow as the train is open for sales)”.
Finally, Trenitalia says, “the necessary time required for the feasibility study to process this request would make it impossible to access the sales channels for those trains for about a month”. And “since these are the only guaranteed connections, inhibition would not be a viable option”. “In any case, for the speeding up, ordinary and extraordinary maintenance activities on the Battipaglia-Potenza and Potenza-Metaponto lines, circulation measures have been adopted for the 4 Intercity trains Rome-Taranto and vice versa via Potenza, with the related replacement bus services, which will serve all the stops on the section affected by the modernization work”, finally writes the head of institutional relations for Trenitalia, detailing to the Region the routes and stops of the bus lines that will replace the four Intercity trains to and from Rome, namely 700, 701, 702 and 707.
Tourism
Taranto will therefore experience a summer without direct trains to Rome, a shortage that adds to the many already existing in the mobility sector. And all this while trying to accredit a new tourist image of the city between the National Archaeological Museum, the Aragonese Castle and cruises. As if transport were going against the grain of the city’s efforts and initiatives. Added to this is the fact that, beyond the Region, not even institutional and social pressure has appeared adequate, despite the fact that the day before yesterday a parliamentary question was announced by the Ionian deputy of Fratelli d’Italia Dario Iaia. And the pressure does not stop. “I made a question more than a month ago on this story of the trains – Pd deputy Ubaldo Pagano declared to Quotidiano – a real injustice for Taranto. I see that colleagues in the majority now want to do the same, but if you are a majority parliamentarian you have to go to the ministry to ask for immediate intervention. If you are a government force, you communicate the results of your action. The changes, as well as the new timetables, were known since May. Added to this is the fact that on rail transport in Taranto they also cause job opportunities to be lost, as in the case of cleaning the carriages for the Taranto-Reggio Calabria Intercity».
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Read the full article on
Daily Newspaper of Puglia
