Mercitalia Fast new high-speed freight service presented

On October 29, Mercitalia Fast service, FS Italiane Group’s innovative high-speed rail freight service, was launched, in the presence of the Minister of Economic Development, Luigi Di Maio. The train will run at speeds of up to 300 km/h. Mercitalia Fast is the world’s first high-speed rail transport service for goods. Thus, a new era began for the FS Italiane Group’s goods business.

The goods will travel on board a high-speed train which has a load capacity equivalent to 18 tractor-trailers. The use of rolling containers will make loading and unloading operations quick, efficient and safe.

– With the launch of the new Mercitalia service, the transport of goods enters the third millennium, as we implement a paradigm shift. We are taking the first step of a broad and defined project that aims to make Italian high-speed freight transport a cutting-edge model in the European context –  Minister Luigi Di Maio said.

Starting 7 November, the new all freight service, managed by Polo Mercitalia, will connect the Mercitalia Terminal of Maddaloni-Marcianise (Caserta), the logistic gateway to Southern Italy, with the Bologna Interport, one of the most important logistics hubs in Northern Italy using the Italian high speed/high capacity network, every day, in 3 hours and 30 minutes. In the future, the company plans to extend Mercitalia Fast services to other terminals located in the main Italian cities serviced by the high-speed network.

– Mercitalia Fast will be the first freight transport service to use the national High Speed/High Capacity railway network. “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 current e-commerce boom. Today we are the only operator able to offer such an innovative service – Marco Gosso, CEO of Mercitalia said.

The Mercitalia Fast service was designed to meet the needs of customers such as express couriers, logistics operators, producers, distributors and real estate developers.

This first Mercitalia Fast service will lighten traffic on the main Italian motorway (Autostrada A1) by about 9,000 tractor-trailers annually, reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere by 80% compared to road transport.

Source: railwaypro.com