Developing the New Local Railway Concept in Lombardy

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The Italian public transport reform act draws a new scenario for local railways. In early 2001 a decentralisation process called regionalisation took place and the local railway services now are to be regulated by the Regional Administration. This paper tries to outline the key factors of the local railway concept, as regards the services, the infrastructures and the regulation policies, chosen by the Regional Administration for Lombardy, one of the major region of Italy. 1. Local railways in Lombardy today In Lombardy more than 1,500 local trains operate every day on 36 routes. Total trains*km produced are about 27.3 million p.a. and the passengers*km transported reach 3.6 billion p.a. The importance of Lombardy in the service produced in Italy is remarkable: about 18% of the transported passengers and 11% of the train*km produced. Figure 1. Local trains yearly production in Italy and Lombardy The rate of potential growth of the market is in Lombardy still remarkable (+13% estimated growth rate in peak hours), especially for the sub-urban trains. As regards the infrastructures, the railway network is 1,500 km long, with more than 400 stations. Only minor changes have been made since it was built, about 80 years ago, and heavy improvements are now needed, mainly in terms of increased capacity. Services today are mainly operated by Trenitalia S.p.A., a subsidiary of the national railways owned by the Government (73% of regional service). Ferrovie Nord Milano Esercizio (FNME), a local company owned in part by the Regional Administration, I Regione Lombardia, Direzione Generale Infrastrutture e Mobilit/t, U.O. Servizio Ferroviario Regionale, Via F.Filzi 22,1-20124 Milano, Italy, +390267655345, stanta@mdsnet.it 2 Regionr Lombardia, Direzione Generale lnffastrutture e Mobili~ U.O. Servizio Ferroviario Regionale, Via F.Filzi 22,1-20124 Milano, Italy, +390267656739, e.foresti@mdsnet.it