MILAN, ITALY / AGILITYPR.NEWS / December 04, 2023 / View in Browser

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ESPRESSO CADORE OVERNIGHT TRAIN: A TIMELESS JOURNEY FROM ROME TO CORTINA D'AMPEZZO

Click on the link https://we.tl/t-3WSGfsTBZw for a Video Press Kit of the event with statements from Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Giancarlo Giorgetti, Italian Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanchè, CEO of FS Group Luigi Ferraris, CEO of FS Treni Turistici Italiani Luigi Cantamessa

FULL STEAM AHEAD FOR TRENI TURISTICI ITALIANI

Friday December 15^th sees the maiden voyage of the Espresso Cadore overnight train, connecting Roma Termini to Cortina d’Ampezzo

On the evening of Friday December 15^th, the new Espresso Cadore overnight train to Cortina d’Ampezzo left Roma Termini station. This marked the first foray of FS Treni Turistici Italiani, a new company within the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group, created with the mission of offering rail services designed specifically for high-quality, sustainable tourism, with a focus on rediscovering all the delights that Italy has to offer. The new overnight service allows passengers to travel between Rome and Cortina d’Ampezzo every weekend until February 15^th 2024, with additional services scheduled for the Christmas period. The train departs every Friday evening from Roma Termini station, arriving into Calalzo station the following morning. From here, a bus service takes passengers right into the heart of Cortina d’Ampezzo. The return train then departs on Sunday evening from Calalzo - Pieve di Cadore - Cortina station, arriving into Roma Termini on Monday morning.

The presentation of the train’s maiden voyage was attended by CEO of FS Group Luigi Ferraris as well as Italian Minister of Economy and Finance Giancarlo Giorgetti, Italian Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanchè, CEO of Trenitalia Luigi Corradi, CEO of FS Treni Turistici Italiani Luigi Cantamessa and President of FS Treni Turistici Italiani Alessandro Vannini Scatoli.

Luigi Ferraris, CEO of FS Group

For us, it marks the start of a whole new adventure with Treni Turistici Italiani. This company was established recently with the aim of allowing people to discover all the beauty our country has to offer with slow tourism - in other words, by using trains that allow us to drink in the landscape at a gentle, peaceful pace.

Luigi Cantamessa, CEO of FS Treni Turistici Italiani

This train, with all its carriages, represents the latest in fine Italian workmanship: solid, well-designed carriages that are built to last. We have completely rearranged them, as if refurbishing the interiors of a family hotel. And so the Espresso Cadore was born: a train made up of sleeper and couchette cars, a dining car, and the return of the baggage car of yesteryear, where you can stow large items such as tents, canoes, electric bikes - in fact, more or less anything. This is not merely a nostalgic indulgence: this is a train crafted around the idea of being a tourist. Tomorrow morning at 8am, we will reach the end of the line: Calalzo di Cadore, from which the railway once continued on to Cortina; however, as of 1963, the so-called ‘dead branches’ policy saw the train service to Cortina discontinued. We have attempted to recreate it by using buses which will pull into our station, pick up passengers and, in just 45 minutes, whisk them away into the centre of Cortina. A traveller stepping aboard tonight will find themselves in the Ampezzo Valley at 9am tomorrow. This is the first connection, an express train: hence the Italian name and the company colour, which is blue, just like our sea, our sky, our national team. Many thanks to the Minister of Tourism, who has always held the cause of rail tourism dear to her heart, and I believe that with everyone’s help, in ten year, the Treno Azzurro will have a firm place alongside the Frecciarossa in the collective imagination of the Italian people. The Treno Azzurro will have different features because here, for the first time, the holiday starts the moment the train pulls out of the station.

Daniela Santanché, Italian Minister of Tourism

I believe that this is an excellent opportunity and a huge leap forward for both national and international tourism, but this is only the very first Treno Azzurro so far. We are committed to increase train coverage because without travel and without transportation, tourism simply cannot have a future. So congratulations and best of luck - I will certainly be a frequent traveller on this train.

Giancarlo Giorgetti, Italian Minister of Economy and Finance

This train was created in part to be enjoyed in itself, to somehow reward travellers for choosing the slow tourism option, which unquestionably brings us back to a gentler pace, a bygone lifestyle that we sorely miss.

INTER EXPERIENCE: ALL THE LATEST WAYS OF TRAVELLING AROUND ITALY AND EUROPE

Click on the link https://we.tl/t-ME6jbwOtYd for a Video Press Kit of the event with statements from the speakers at the conference

New links to ski resorts and tourist destinations in the mountains, more travel solutions seamlessly integrated with train, bus and air connections, and tailor-made promotions for families and young people: these are just some of the new features of the Winter Experience 2023 from the Passenger Hub of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiano Group, made up of Trenitalia, Busitalia, Ferrovie del Sud Est and FS Treni Turistici Italiani.

The Winter Experience offer kicks off from December 10^th, with the addition of brand new solutions geared towards developing an increasingly comprehensive, efficient and sustainable approach to mobility. All in all, there are 24,000 national train and bus connections running every day, as well as 13,000 daily connections in and around Europe. We have improved the cross-border offer between Italy, Switzerland, Austria and Germany, with Intercity, Intercity Notte, Eurocity and Euronight offering passengers around 170 connections a day. What’s more, Friday December 15^th heralds the arrival of Espresso Cadore, a new overnight train that will link Rome with Cortina d’Ampezzo: this marks the first foray of FS Treni Turistici Italiani, a new company within the FS Group created with the mission of offering rail services designed specifically for high-quality, sustainable tourism with a focus on rediscovering all the delights that Italy has to offer. The new releases for the winter season were presented in Milan by Luigi Corradi, CEO and Managing Director of Trenitalia.

Interview transcripts:

Luigi Corradi, CEO of Trenitalia

“The Winter Experience is everything rolled into one: tourism, but also business. We plan to continue supporting companies whose staff need to travel for business, namely with a whole host of offers giving them the opportunity to take the train at the lowest possible cost. Plus, of course, tourism, which is crucial. So what does the Winter Experience mean? It means creating offers that, for example, ferry more people into mountain resorts by train. Until just a few years ago, the idea of getting on a train for a ski outing, bringing your skis, boots and equipment with you was perhaps not unthinkable, but certainly very challenging indeed. Today, however, the world is changing: many people have asked us for a way to reach ski resorts such as Cortina, Calalzo, San Candido, Bardonecchia and Sauze d’Oulx by train, so you will see the offer grow considerably due to this demand, too”.

Pietro Diamantini, Trenitalia’s High-Speed Business Unit Director

“This year, with super fast trains, we are constantly reducing the journey time between Rome and Milan - currently 2 hours and 50 minutes - consequently also shortening the duration of the Naples-Turin route, which forms the main thoroughfare of the High-Speed line. We have increased the connections between Rome and Milan - currently sitting at one hundred - as well as bolstering the North-South connection running between Turin and Naples. Once again this year, we confirm that we will be using Frecciarossa trains for overnight journeys during the Christmas period, in light of their great success last year. So we will be rolling these out again not just for Christmas, but also for Easter. An excellent offer for everyone, with promotions making journeys easy to plan, as well as more affordable”.

Luigi Cantamessa, CEO of Treni Turistici Italiani

“Treni Turistici Italiani is a fully-fledged start-up within the Passenger Hub and the FS Group. The inaugural journey is scheduled for December 15^th, on a relatively short route: Rome-Cortina d’Ampezzo. It will depart at 9.40pm, but passengers will be able to board 40 minutes before departure. This will allow them time to get comfortable in the sleeper car or the couchette car, enjoy dinner in the dining car, or have a drink at the bar, which will be open all night. In the morning, breakfast will be served in the dining car or delivered directly to the sleepers. The train will arrive in Calalzo at 8am, and each FS TTI carriage will be assigned its own coach. In just 45 minutes, departing directly from Calalzo station (which is the end of the line), passengers will be transported right into the heart of spectacular Cortina d’Ampezzo”.