The high speed (HS) railway system in Italy has been developed on two main routes: Milano-Bologna-Firenze-Roma-Napoli and Torino-Milano-Verona-Padova-Venezia.. The new system runs parallel to the current line. The main objective of the new line is the reduction of travel time (attaining a speedof approx. 350 Km/h) and a substantial increase in passengers and freightalong the existent network. The payback of the capital invested will derive essentially from the economic return of new service by a mixed system of public and private entrepreneurial management. The infrastructure , switched from the services, will remain under public control. It is consideredthat the high speed system is very important along the stretch under examination, i.e. Naples-Rome, because the traffic reaches a relevant concentration of passengers x km transported. An increase in the flow of passengers on the Milan-Rome-Naples routes is foreseeable, and to meet it, new, larger, infrastructures need to be constructed as the existing ones are saturated. An expansion solution is therefore required involving quadrupling the lines. This paper essentially proposes to assess the impact of the highspeed system arising from the complete implementation of the new ETR 500 train now used on old lines but running at a reduced speed limit because of the old tracks currently in use. Essentially the problem of introducing a high speed system derives from the abnormal traffic flow as exercise of only one truck or parallel running whose resolution requires the wide use of computerised support. Another element that can influence pricing strategy is to maintain the infrastructure because HS requires costs programmingwhich must be coordinated with the existing network. In terms of speed, an ETR 500 Eurostar takes one hour and ten minutes on the Rome-Naples stretch, while a conventional train takes at least one hour and forty-six minutes, due to an increase in velocity. In operational terms, the HS network will free the major part of the basic network of daytime and long distance night travellers. Clearly, this means new opportunities will be created for commercial use of the basic primary and secondary networks for freight, and there will also be an improvement in traffic flow along the traditional network.ûGiven that passenger traffic flow along the Milan Rome Naples line should fall by over 60%, it is feasible that freight traffic may well more than double. The increased potential of HS infrastructure which the Rome-Naples stretch will enjoy, with its 46 HS trains and interconnection with the existing line will give 13 km of variation on the slow line over atotal of 204 km. The study will test passenger choice of Eurostar trains running with speed limitations on the old line, fully assessing train efficiency on the new high speed line. For the covering abstract see ITRD E135582.
Abstract