Turin Public Transport, Italy

Turin, in the north west of Italy, was the country's first capital city. When this status was lost at the turn of the last century to Florence (and then to Rome), the city was forced to find its vocation, which it did in the form of industrialisation. The city centred its economy on industry, mechanics and above all on the automobile. In the mid-70s Fiat was the largest employer in the city and continues to be one the country's best-known and most powerful corporations. It is not surprising, therefore, that the financial prosperity bestowed on Turin enabled a well-developed, technologically-advanced public transport system. This extensive tramway network, which totals 179km, first started in 1907. Until the 1950s it was the sole public transport system of the city. It still remains an important transportation service, resulting in a current upgrade of tram Line 4 that will extend the network to 195km.

As with all major cities, traffic congestion is a major problem. Even when actively promoting public transport services, vehicles still over-power the stretched road systems. Land in city centres commands such premium prices that car parking land is becoming less and less. However, an ingenious new automated system could change the situation. The late 1990s saw the first commercial installation of the TREVIPARK in Cesena, Italy. The TREVIPARK system solves many of the traditional problems associated with urban parking - congestion, pollution, land space, security - through the installation of compact, circular, underground silos that optimise space, are easily installed, are secure, and are completely automatic. The TREVIPARK is currently being installed throughout Turin.

Because of its relative small size, Turin was unable to follow other European cities and develop an underground metro system as it was not financially viable. It instead chose to build an advanced tramway system, the 'light metro' organised on a grip basis in the main streets of the city. With this, there were plans to make the key routes 'super tram' lines. Tram Line 4, when upgraded and extended, will be the first 'super tram' example. The municipal transport authority, ATM, and Italian company SATTI SpA operate and manage the city's urban and suburban bus, tramway and local railway networks. Continuing upgrades of the tramway system includes the arrival of new low-floor Cityway rolling stock. Built by Alstom, there are plans to have a fleet of 187 low-floor trams running by 2004. 40 of these trams will be assigned to the upgraded Tram Line 4.

The Turin transport authorities have recently implemented a system that tracks all the buses and trams. An innovative system called Fluidtime taps into this data, making it available to travellers, direct to their mobile phones or wrist watches.

Railways have always been important to Turin; its system is already advanced and there are continuing projects to enhance it further, with seven new stations and new lines planned. A new four-track underground line is under construction, called the Passante, which will link these seven stations with Porta Susa, the future main station of Turin (replacing Porta Nuova). This train line, being constructed by the Italian State Railways (Ferrovia dello Stato - Trenitalia), will be the main airport rail link and is expected to be in operation by 2006 with trains running every five minutes between Dora and Lingotto, and every ten minutes from Dora to Stura.

In 2000, Turin was named as the host of the 2006 Winter Olympics. This event attracts thousands of spectators and as a consequence it was realised that the city public transportation system needed upgrading in order to cope. This major achievement bought the ideas of a metro system to the fore and at the end of 2000 construction started on the first section of the 'Metropolitana Automatica di Torino'.

METROPOLITANO TORINO

Turin's first underground metro line is based on the VAL (automated light vehicle) system adopted in Lille and Toulouse. It starts in the centre of Turin at the current main railway station Porta Nuova, crossing the city centre via Porta Susa railway station and then travelling west to Collegno along Corso Francia. This first section will be 9.6km long and will have 15 stations. It is being constructed by Systra SA and Geodata and completion is expected in 2005 - 2006, in time for the Winter Olympics. The network will run through tunnels constructed at a depth of 15m to 18m below the city.

A second phase will include a 4.5km-long extension of the initial route from Porta Nuova south to Lingotto, all underground with six stations along Via Nizza running parallel to the River Po. It is planned that during rush hours there will be a VAL train every two minutes in each direction. The VAL line will help shape the city, in particular the southern terminus at Lingotto. Here, there is an ever-growing Expo City and the VAL link will provide a fast link to the centre of the Turin.

It is expected that a further 3.6km extension will be routed west of Fermi with four new stations. Beyond this, there are already plans for more stations and further line extensions.

In 2001, Geie VAL 208 TORINO (an association of enterprise consisting of Siemens AG, Siemens SpA and Alstom Ferroviaria SpA) ordered 46 VAL-208 metro cars from Siemens-MATRA for the metro. These trainsets are made up of four carriages with a total length of 52m and can carry up to 440 passengers. The network will be able to carry up to 20,000 passengers per direction per hour without any disruption. The trains are equipped with rubber wheels, a feature contributing to higher speeds, lower breaking distances and less vibration than on steel railway lines. Corridors and stations have been designed in accordance to an Architectural Plan prepared by Kohn & Associates, with the aim of rationalising and minimising passages in the inside and exit corridors. All stations will have automatic sliding doors on the platforms, video surveillance and smoke detectors and an intercom system linked to the Command and Control Point (CCP).