Marco Chiandoni

THE provincial council of the Italian autonomous region of South Tyrol on December 16 approved the electrification of the Merano - Malles line, entrusting planning and project management to Strutture Trasporto Alto Adige and Alto Adige Finance under a €56m contract.

TRENITALIA has signed two contracts with AnsaldoBreda for rolling stock maintenance services.

REGIONAL rail links between Austria and Italy were stepped up significantly on December 14 with the launch of hourly services on the Fortezza - San Candido – Lienz corridor as part of the Euregio initiative between the Austrian province of Tyrol and the Italian autonomous region of South Tyrol.

TRENITALIA launched the first high-speed services to Rome Leonardo da Vinci airport on December 14, when selected Frecciargento services were extended to serve the airport station at Fiumicino.

FINMECCANICA CEO Mr Mauro Moretti has invited bidders to submit binding offers within the next few days for the acquisition of AnsaldoBreda and its 40% stake in Ansaldo STS, according to reports in the Italian financial press.

TRENITALIA has signed a €250m 10-year contract with AnsaldoBreda to maintain the fleet of 50 Frecciarossa 1000 (ETR 1000) high-speed trains being supplied by a consortium of the Italian manufacturer and Bombardier.

ITALY's economy minister Mr Giancarlo Padoan has announced that the government is planning a "quick" partial-privatisation of Italian State Railways (FS) in a bid to reduce the public debt and improve the competitiveness of the railway in the high-speed rail and regional public transport markets.

THE mayor of Rome, Mr Ignazio Marino, officially opened the first section of Line C on November 9. This is the Italian capital's third metro line.

ITALIAN open-access high-speed operator NTV says it is likely to lay off up to 248 staff – a quarter of its workforce – as part of a major restructuring plan for the company, which was presented to trade unions on October 30.

ANSALDOBREDA has delivered the first two Sirio LRVs to the Chinese city of Zhuhai, with the remaining eight set to be assembled in China by its domestic partner CNR Dalian.