Italian diesel hauled passenger trains on borrowed time
Trenitalia plans to renew 80% of its regional train fleet by 2026.
ITALIAN national operator Trenitalia has 79 new tri-mode diesel, electric and battery powered multiple units on order from Hitachi. These will be used to replace older DMUs and eventually all remaining regional diesel loco hauled services.
The new trains designated HTR312 / 412 (HTR = Hybrid Train Rapid with three and four-car versions respectively) and branded as ‘Blues’ following earlier regional train names such as ‘rock’, ‘pop’ and ‘jazz’ (all in English) are due to enter service this summer.
Trenitalia retains substantial numbers of diesel loco hauled trains in Tuscany working from Florence (Firenze in Italian). All are worked by the Class D445 BoBos built between 1974 and 1976, powered by 1560kW Fiat diesel engines. Based at Siena depot, the locos work trains from the main station in Florence – Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Siena, Borgo Lorenzo via Pontassieve – plus some limited peak hour trains south of Siena. A smaller fleet is also still in regional use in Sardinia. As large numbers of the new ‘Blues’ units have been built already they may remove loco hauled trains very quickly once in service.
Trenitalia has also ordered seven bi-mode ‘Blues’ units to replace the only remaining diesel hauled long distance service in Italy which is the scenic line from Taranto to Reggio Calabria along the coast of the Ionian Sea in the far south of Italy. These trains, two train pairs daily, which normally only load to two or three coaches hauled by a Class D445 loco, are due to be replaced by December 2024.
Trenitalia is planning to renew 80% of its regional train fleet by 2026 and large numbers of new EMUs are also on order. These are displacing large numbers of relatively modern Class 464 electric locos (over 700 of which were built 1999 – 2010) which formerly worked push-pull services all over the country.