Rail transport: an opportunity to decarbonise mobility
A report by Intesa Sanpaolo's Research Department dedicated to regional rail transport highlights the opportunities it can offer in terms of decarbonising the transport system and thus supporting a sustainable future of mobility in Italy.
Regional rail transport could, in fact, absorb an increasing share of the demand for mobility, typically taking it away from the car: rail transport is characterised by lower emissions than other means of transport and has a limited dependence on fossil fuels thanks to the progressive electrification of the network.
The report focuses in particular on the dynamics of demand and certain aspects of the supply system, in the knowledge that the efficiency and upgrading of supply is an essential step in attracting new demand:
Demand for regional rail transport has not experienced the growth desired in recent years, and has not been instrumental in the decarbonisation of transport.
Indeed, the number of passengers carried by regional rail services is weakly growing between 2012 and 2019, declining during the pandemic and partially recovering in 2022.
The dynamics of medium- and long-distance transport, on the other hand, appear different: it has progressively attracted new travellers also thanks to an expanded and upgraded offer.
The perception of the regional service has improved on a national average level, but differentiated situations remain across the territory.
The regions where the quality of service is highest are also those where commuters use the train the most: in the North, train use stands at around 35 people for every 100 while the figure for the South is much lower. Southern areas, however, showed the greatest progress in terms of the spread of service use in the period 2012- 2022.
The quantitative and qualitative aspects of supply are important in determining mobility choices.
The level of satisfaction is linked both to the frequency and ubiquity of the service and to the condition of the wagons, which also depends on the average age of the vehicles; it also depends on the speed of travel by train compared to travel by other means and the frequency of journeys. Vehicle age is also closely related to energy efficiency.
In recent years, average vehicle age has decreased significantly (the national age of the regional train fleet in 2023 is 15.8 years, down significantly from over 20 years in 2014), but rejuvenation has only taken place in some regions, while in others the average age of the fleet has increased. The dynamics of the average age is the result of both the introduction of new trainsets and the decommissioning of older ones.
Regional trains travel on average 46 km per hour, in the south at 38.7 km per hour.
Facilitating the modal shift towards regional transport therefore calls for action on several fronts:
- investments are needed to replace ageing vehicles
- resources are needed to extend the deployment of double track and to guarantee the routine and extraordinary maintenance on which the reliability of the service in terms of delays and cancellations depends
- it is necessary to act on the service offered in terms of frequency and average speed
- a cultural change is required, to alter the deep-rooted preference for private transport, which has been further strengthened by the pandemic, in favour of public transport.
Heterogeneous situations remain in the territory in terms of type of offer, quality of means and user perception and level of regional train use.
Download the “Local Public Services Monitor” Report (available in Italian only).
The Intesa Sanpaolo Research Department Report was produced as part of the MOST (National Centre for Sustainable Mobility) project.
Strategies for modal rebalancing towards lower-impact means of transport (Shift) are one of the policies for sustainable mobility, and complement interventions to eliminate or reduce travel requirements (Avoid) and strategies to improve the performance of means of transport in terms of energy efficiency, unit emissions and safety (Improve).
Last updated 10 July 2024 at 14:07:28
