Gone with the train
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It's the summer of restarting, of booming travel, of yearning for Italy. The numbers recorded in the first 5 months of the year by FS Group's Passenger Hub bode well, one more positive sign for Trenitalia's Summer Experience 2023, which kicked off on Sunday, June 11. More offers with traveler-friendly promotions and services, extensive and frequent connections to many resorts, cities of art, villages and European destinations, more integrated and intermodal travel solutions.
As Trenitalia President Stefano Cuzzilla said it went through "the perfect storm," but now these "numbers give us light" and today we can toast "to figures we used to see in 2019."
In the first five months of 2023 Trenitalia, Busitalia, and Ferrovie del Sud Est recorded 225 million passengers, up 24 percent from 2022. At the national level, excellent performances were recorded by Frecciarossa (1.5 million passengers on the April 25 and May 1 bridges, up 7% compared to 2019); Intercity (7.5 million passengers as of May 31, 2023, up 10% compared to 2019); and Regional (more than 9 million travelers on the April 25 and May 1 bridges: up 18% compared to 2019). International sales, that is, customers purchasing travel to Italy from abroad, increased by 65% compared to 2019. The number of tickets purchased on digital channels grew (40 million trips, +80% compared to 2019) along with the benefits offered to young people, families and businesses.
In the summer season of the Passenger Hub, the focus on bicycle enthusiasts is strengthened with about 27,000 daily bike seats available to Regional, Intercity and Eurocity travelers, whose bookings have increased by 30% compared to 2022.
With the Summer Experience there will be more trains to summer tourist destinations; new integrated train, bus, ship and air travel solutions, with 19 airports connected to stations; ad hoc promotions for families and young people; and special attention to those who decide to go on vacation with their four-legged friends. In total, there are more than 10,000 daily train connections and about 19,000 bus rides between Italy and Europe offered by the FS Group's Passenger Hub to travel under the banner of sustainability, combined with comfort and safety. Frecce, Intercity, Regional and FSE will provide more than 6,600 train connections in Italy, in addition to about 11,000 bus rides by Busitalia and FSE. In Europe, the FS Group's new domestic market, there will be more than 3,300 total daily train connections and 8,000 bus rides.
The success of the train and bus connections, coupled with the growing demand of those who choose to ride their bikes on our trains, means that our efforts translate into added value for the Tourism industry
As emphasized by Trenitalia CEO Luigi Corradi, "Central and strategic element of the Passenger Hub is intermodality. This is why we decided to further enrich the traveler's experience and offer integrated solutions for the entire journey, from home to destination, and not only from station to station. The success of the train and bus connections, combined with the growing demand of those who choose to travel by bike on board our trains, means that our commitment materializes in added value for the Tourism industry and for the territories where, every day, our people work not only on board trains, but also in the plants and workshops to ensure quality and excellence of made in Italy."
More generally, more than 250 Frecce trains per day will run on the Italian rail network, with more than 120,000 seats offered to domestic and international customers. In total, more than 120 maritime, mountain or art city destinations will thus be served. Connections to the South between Milan and Naples increase and improve, with a total of 68 Frecciarossa trains per day and more than 30,000 seats offered. The "business" connection par excellence, the Milan-Rome, will also be able to count on 4 more Frecciarossa trains per day, for a total of no less than 94 daily connections and more than 45,000 seats offered, with an average frequency of about one train every 15 minutes during peak hours. On the Frecce, passengers will be able to travel with more taste and maximum comfort thanks to the new on-board catering service-which also affects the offer in the FrecciaLounges and FrecciaClubs in Italy-developed under the banner of sustainability, which is reflected in the choice of packaging and selected raw materials. The offer of train connections is enriched with those by road thanks to more than 20 Freccialinks that, especially on weekends, will reach some of the most beautiful sea and mountain locations.