IThe Minister of Economic Development and Minister of Labor and Social Policies Luigi Di Maio today participated in the presentation of Mercitalia Fast, the innovative high-speed rail freight transport service of the FS Italiane Group. The characteristics of the service were illustrated at the Mercitalia Terminal in Maddaloni-Marcianise by the CEO and General Manager of the FS Italiane Group Gianfranco Battisti and the CEO and General Manager of Mercitalia Logistics Marco Gosso. Mercitalia Fast is the first high-speed rail transport service in the world dedicated to freight. This marks the beginning of a new era for the freight business of the FS Italiane Group. Starting from Wednesday 7 November, the new all-freight service managed by Polo Mercitalia (FS Italiane Group) will connect – using the Italian High Speed/High Capacity network – every day (Monday to Friday), in 3 hours and 30 minutes, the Mercitalia Terminal in Maddaloni-Marcianise (Caserta), the natural logistics gateway to the South of the country, with the Bologna Interporto, one of the most important logistics hubs in Northern Italy.
“The development and strengthening of freight transport, together with the transport of people with regional and long-distance connections, are the priority of FS Italiane”, underlined Gianfranco Battisti, CEO and General Manager of the FS Italiane Group. “Mercitalia is already the largest Italian player in the European freight transport market, with a consolidated turnover of over 1 billion euros per year and one of the most important fleets of locomotives and freight wagons existing today in Europe. Through the definition of a new vision, a new strategy and a new business model that unites and integrates all its companies, Mercitalia has the primary objective of rehabilitating and relaunching the freight business of the FS Italiane Group, creating a true Italian 'champion' capable of competing on equal terms with the foreign giants in the sector”.
“Mercitalia Fast will be the first freight transport service to use the national High Speed/High Capacity rail network,” said Marco Gosso, CEO of Mercitalia. “Our goal is to offer a tailor-made service to those customers who need to deliver goods quickly, reliably and on time, features that are increasingly in demand with the boom in e-commerce. Today, we are the only operator able to offer such an innovative service. We will start on Wednesday, November 7, connecting Maddaloni-Marcianise to Bologna Interporto every night. In the future, we plan to extend the offer of Mercitalia Fast services to other terminals located in the main Italian cities served by the AV/AC network.”
The Mercitalia Fast service was designed to meet the needs of customers such as express couriers, logistics operators, manufacturers, distributors and real estate developers. The goods will travel aboard a High Speed train that has a load capacity equivalent to 18 trucks. The use of roll containers will make loading and unloading operations fast, efficient and safe. This first Mercitalia Fast service will relieve the main Italian motorway (Autostrada A1) of approximately 9 thousand trucks each year, reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by 80% compared to road transport. Mercitalia Fast recently received the Logistics Award of the Year from Assologistica.
Gustavo Gentile
Article published on 29 October 2018 - 15:26
