New High-speed Train Connects Milan and Rome
Colleen Barry, AP, USA TODAY, 12/16/2008
ABOARD ES ITALIA AV 9427 — Just outside Milan, the countryside starts to blur as the Italian Railway's new Red Arrow high-speed train reaches its maximum velocity of 186 miles an hour (300 kilometers an hour).
Dario Rigamonti, a consultant traveling to Florence, moved to an empty window seat, and looked outside. "It is impressive," he said.
The speedier service shaves an hour off the lucrative Milan-Rome route, connecting Italy's political and financial capitals in 3 hours and 30 minutes, 18 times a day.
The timing of the new service couldn't be better for the state-owned Italian Railway. Air service between Milan and Rome has been thrown into disarray with the relaunch of Alitalia, losing passengers to both trains and Italy's highway as a reduction in connections and recent wildcat strikes made air travel uncertain.
Italian Railway Chief Executive Mauro Moretti aims to snag 60% of the 3.7 million passengers who fly the route every year.
But analyst Diego Petrocelli of Bain & Co. said they won't really start taking a significant bite out of air travelers until the time gets under 3 hours — expected at the end of 2010 when the track between Florence and Bologna is improved to shorten that leg to just 30 minutes. At the moment it takes an hour.
"The important thing for high-speed trains is not just attracting passengers who travel by air, but also those who drive," Petrocelli said, noting that 60% of all Rome-Milan traffic is by car, 30% by train and just 10% by air.