BARLETTA – Via Vittorio Veneto reopens to traffic and the steps of the pedestrian underpass connecting the Ferrotramviaria and Ferrovie dello Stato stations are finally ready.
Yesterday morning, the regional councilor for Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Debora Ciliento, attended the reopening of Via Vittorio Veneto (from Via Marconi to Via Zanardelli) and the opening of the steps of the pedestrian underpass of Ferrotramviaria in Barletta together with the mayor, Cosimo Cannito, the general director of transport of Ferrotramviaria, Massimo Nitti, and the director of the General Affairs, Legal and Investment Sector of Ferrotramviaria, Pio Fabietti.
These are the first two results relating to the intervention on the second front of the Barletta station, financed by the Puglia Region for approximately 4 million euros under the OP FESR 2014-2020 within the scope of the Great Project “Railway adaptation of the North-Bari metropolitan area”, of which Ferrotramviaria is the implementing body.
The project, which started in 2021 and will end next September, aims to strengthen and make the Barletta Centrale interchange station more efficient, making it more accessible and functional, also thanks to the construction of the Ferrotramviaria passenger building with ticket offices and new services.
“Today we are recording the first results of a project that should be seen in a broader perspective, that of connecting the North of Bari to the Bari airport, with important interventions on Andria and Barletta and the doubling of the tracks, promoting interoperability between the networks managed by the different operators – underlined the councilor Ciliento -. Furthermore, it allows to mend two parts of the city until now separated by the railway line, thanks to the creation of a direct connection through the underpass that unites the two stations and will allow pedestrians to go from Piazza Conteduca to Via Vittorio Veneto in safety”.
The section of Via Vittorio Veneto in question has a widened roadway and space for a bus stop. As for the pedestrian underpass, from today only the steps will be passable, because the ramp for the disabled, for works under regional jurisdiction only, will be completed in a few weeks.
“It is the goal of all those who have worked and believed in this project, to make railway services usable and accessible to disabled users – added Ciliento -, but at the moment it is important to highlight that even after the opening of the ramp on the side of Via Vittorio Veneto, access to Piazza Conteduca will not be easy, as work is underway to build the elevators by RFI and there are no ramps”.
At the same time as Ferrotramviaria, RFI has also started its own works with an investment of 7.2 million euros to improve the accessibility and decor of the Barletta station, which will be completed in the first half of 2025.
«The enhancement and modernization of Barletta Centrale is an example of a fruitful collaboration between the Region, the Municipality of Barletta, Ferrotramviaria and RFI to offer citizens accessible and safe stations, redevelop large areas of the city and make the rail transport service increasingly attractive», concluded the councilor.
