Italy: Bologna Centrale - Parma

Discussion in 'Suggestions' started by trainsimplayer, Oct 15, 2021.

?
  1. Yes!

    47.6%
  2. Well, I'd like to see a New country/Italy, so yes!

    38.1%
  3. Maybe/Not Sure

    9.5%
  4. No.

    4.8%
  1. trainsimplayer

    trainsimplayer Well-Known Member

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    Hello all, I'm here with another suggestion! Been a while, hasn't it.

    Off the back of my Dutch suggestion a few weeks ago now, I'm going to take you on a trip to the wonderful Southern European nation of Italy.

    Known worldwide for its cuisine, landmarks and euro-winning football team (sorry I had to.), Italy is a wonderful country, and it also possesses an extensive High-Speed and Conventional rail network!

    The route I'm suggesting is the Southern Section of the Milan - Bologna Line (Conventional), with the adjacent High-Speed line. This portion of the line is the 89km (55mi) area between Bologna Centrale and Parma.
    Note: This figure is Parma - Bologna via the Conventional Line, this can get a lot longer.

    Without wasting too much time, let's get going!

    Rolling Stock
    As this is a new country I feel it's appropriate to start with this:

    There is a variety of stock, from high-speed 'Frecciarossa' units like these:
    Frecciarossa_1000.tif.png Naples,_Central_station,_gorgeous_long-distance_train.jpg
    Or the 'Frecciabianca' Locos/Units such as these two:
    Frecciabianca_ETR.460_at_Roma_Termini.jpg 1280px-Frecciabianca_FS_E.414_Cattolica.jpeg
    And of course the regional stock!
    Which I cannot find the appropriate stock for for the life of me - any native Italians, please help :)

    The Route

    Somewhat similar to Riesa - Dresden's layout, this route is split in two, with the conventional lines to the south/west (changes based on where you are), with the high-speed lines seperated, with (at Reggio Emilia) it's own seperate station.

    Luckily, in most places the lines are quite close to each other, keeping scenery tiles relatively low.

    I'll split this up into numerous sections to help keep this simple.

    Here's a map for simplicity, more details below:
    Untitled51_20211015182244.png
    (Red = Seperate High-Speed line
    Orange = All services (minus Italo)
    Yellow = Treno regionale only)

    Bold = Key/Major station
    Int = Interchange with [×]

    Regional Line: Bologna - Parma
    Treno regionale, Frecciarossa, Frecciabianca, InterCity

    Parma
    Sant'llarioa d'Enza
    Reggio Emilia
    Ruberia
    Modena
    Castelfranco Emilia
    Samoggia
    Angola dell'Emilia
    Bologna Centrale

    High-Speed Line: Bologna - Parma

    Frecciarossa, Frecciabianca, Italo
    This line is equipped with ETCS

    Parma
    (Branch on/off Regional Lines to/from High Speed Line)

    Reggio Emilia AV (Int)
    (Modena: Service go on and off Regional Lines for this station)

    Bologna

    Regional Line: Reggia San Lazzaro - Reggio Mediopadana
    Treno regionale

    Reggio San Lazzaro (Adjacent but not connected to main Regional Line)
    Reggio Emilia (Int)
    Reggio Emilia Santa Croce
    Reggio Stadio
    Reggio Madiopadana (Int - connects to Reggio Emilia AV on the High-Speed line)

    Services
    Services are split across numerous different types, so I'll split them up this way, as well.

    Frecciarossa
    Parma • Reggio Emilia • Modena* • Bologna:

    Some AI only between Bologna and Parma (not stopping either end) between Milan and Rome

    Frecciabianco:
    Same as above

    InterCity/InterCity Notte:

    Same as above

    Italo:
    Operates on the dedicated High-Speed line only, doesn't call at Modena at all.

    Treno regionale:
    (Parma - Bologna Regional Line)
    All stops services, some terminating at stations en-route, some skipping smaller stations.
    (Reggio Regional Line)
    All stops services


    AI Services:
    Beyond trains leaving/entering the map at either end, trains - mostly Treno regionale - go off-world to the other lines connecting to this.

    What would this route bring to the game?
    A new country.

    Just kidding, there's far more to it.

    Firstly, this line would be one of the - if not the - first where High-Speed and Regional services actually run near enough alongside, (with HS Trains at High-Speeds), and would provide players with numerous options, talk about variety!

    There is demand for Italy - not as much as The Netherlands, Japan or whatnot but it's there, and I think a route like this, with plenty to do, plenty to see in the north of Italy would be great to see.

    I'd like to see what everyone else thinks. Do you think this would make a good route for TSW? Would you like to see Italy in game?

    I'll set a poll up and also, please, feel free to comment :)

    Thanks for reading.
    (P.S, if the two lines are too long, this could also be cut to Reggio Emilia/Reggio Emilia AV)
     
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  2. ragn05

    ragn05 Well-Known Member

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    sorry, but try to get a bit more of researches done for next, from the start, that section of Milano - Piacenza - Bologna (line 35 under Milano & lines 82/bis under Bologna) is probably the most boring part of it, else than limited possibilities given about 2/3 of it's traffic keep going up to Milan & Piacenza, now, I won't mention stock given in last 3 years that has been such a change that shouldn't be me to explain stock in your suggestion, now, the services path, FR doesn't leave AV in Parma sud interconnection unless line broke and definitelly doesn't stop at Parma, unless for these two FR that stop in morning and afternoon, only trains to use it are FA, now, comparing it with DRA is wrong, given lines have different matters. for scenery, unless you talk of Azzola Nell'emilia, scenery must be done like if are two routes, tracks are various kilometers far.

    my final opinion is that in that way would be extremely inaccurate, and that part of line is awful, and please, if you suggest other countries do more researches before posting pictures of trains that never ran there in that livery.
     
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  3. Rybnicki

    Rybnicki Well-Known Member

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    Well I thought it was a nice suggestion!
     
  4. pev.cookie

    pev.cookie New Member

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    Hi, italian dude here.

    Sorry to break it to you, but honestly this proposal isn't good.

    First off, Parma is a pretty nonsensical end point if you want to include the high speed line. The connection between high speed and conventional line is (sadly) never used in regular service, only for diversions. Really, the only logical end point other than Milano is REggio Emilia AV, but that's a pretty short distance. The same can be said for the Modena connection
    Parma is a pretty logical end point for Intercity, Freccibianca and regional trains. While only a few trains terminate there, every passenger train stops.
    However, there can be issues for freight trains. For starters, they never ever pass though Bologna Centrale (unless there's some big maintenance work, but it's rare), as Bologna has an avoiding line for freight trains. Bologna's main freight yard (or at least what remains of it), is on the other side of the city, which would mean having to model the whole avoiding line iof you wanted to have a logical freight end point, although we all know DTG can be...creative with their freight end points :).
    The spur from Reggio to Reggio AV is kind of a stupid addition. Yes it would link the two stations for free roam, but you'd have to model a whole new type of train for it (as it's not electrified), and services are not frequent at all.

    Now, for the rolling stock: Trenitalia's Frecciarossa services definitely dominate the High speed line, so that's right. However, as Ragno said, other than 2 (?) services a day, they all only use the High speed line, and not even all of them stop at Reggio AV. TL;DR: a lot of Frecciarossas would be AI only. .italo also uses the line in the same exact way as Frecciarossas do (different stock), just less frequent services, but more of them stop at Reggio AV.
    Interesting you didn't mention Frecciargento. They have mostly substituted the Frecciabianca services as of now, and on this section of the line they use the conventional line only. They stop at Parma, Reggio Modena, and Bologna, and are run with ETR700 (ex-FYRA) trains.
    Some Frecciabianca services still remain on the route, although they're not many. All of them now run in a top-tail formation with E402B locos, but if you were to set it before Frecciargento took over Frecciabianca, you could use the trainset in the second frecciabianca picture you posted. The other multiple unit never ran on this route.
    Intercity trains are also present, although not frequent. They run using mostly the same trainset you posted for Frecciabianca sets, but with a differing livery. They have the same stopping pattern as Frecciabianca and Frecciargento.
    And finally, regional trains: most of the line is now dominated by "Rock" multiple units, although loco hauled sets and other different MUs (mostly 1st gen FLIRTs) can also be seen. Most Regionale Veloce (fast regional) trains stop at the same stations as FA/FB/IC + Castelfranco Emilia. Regional trains stop in all stations.
    Freight is extremely varied and I honestly don't know much about it, so I'm not gonna talk about it.
     
  5. trainsimplayer

    trainsimplayer Well-Known Member

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    Thank you both, ragn05 and pev.cookie, I did actually originally plan to make the suggestion Bologna - Milan but when I realised the length I thought to myself "right, I'll cut this to a decent length".

    As my Original Post may have hinted, I personally was running on the bare minimum source and information wise, and had to milk everything I could from it to formulate this suggestion, so I do appreciate the feedback.

    As for my choices here:

    I was given the impression that Parma was a relatively busy station that High-Speed services called at, clearly I should try and verify that a bit more.

    As for my Dresden comparison, it is in a way similar, with a segregated High-Speed line, with connections to the Regional line at major stations.

    However, I do thank you both again for the feedback. It is most appreciated and helpful :)
     
  6. pev.cookie

    pev.cookie New Member

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    Might as well post some pics of the trains used, since I mentioned them:

    Frecciarossa

    ETR 400 "Frecciarossa 1000"
    [​IMG]

    ETR 500 (trainset, not MU; the locos are called E 404)
    [​IMG]


    .italo

    ETR 575
    [​IMG]

    ETR 675 "Italo EVO"
    [​IMG]


    Frecciargento

    ETR 700
    [​IMG]


    Frecciabianca

    E402B (top and tail)
    [​IMG]

    If you set the route a bit early, you could also have the E 414 (top and tail)
    [​IMG]


    Intercity

    E 414 (top and tail)
    [​IMG]


    Regional trains

    ETR 521/621 "Rock"
    [​IMG]

    E 464 + Vivalto coaches
    [​IMG]

    E 464 + MD coaches
    [​IMG]

    ETR 350 "FLIRT"
    [​IMG]

    ETR 103/104 "Pop"
    [​IMG]
     
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  7. driverwoods#1787

    driverwoods#1787 Well-Known Member

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    Bring it on then and if you are wondering the line also gets ETR600s 25kv 50hz ETCS RS4 SCMT 3kv copper contact strip only version of ETR610 15kv 16.7hz capable version of ETR600
     
  8. ragn05

    ragn05 Well-Known Member

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    no, it doesn't, ETR 600 and 485 go to Venice and Verona, they only run 500 meters on that route, only share Bologna AV.

    to clarify, only Adriatica IC runs with 414, others, Milano - Napoli/Roma/Terni runs with E401 and Z1A in tail, the, ICN uses either E402b in IC or XMPR livery or E403 in IC livery. night trains are Torino - Lecce, Milano - Lecce, Milano - Siracusa / Palermo and Torino - Salerno via Milano.

    TTX only has 421 and 521; 621s if Ferrovie.info is right, are still on test phase and I don't think TXX ordered some.

    this is also era related, TTX sent away all Vivalto sets in January 2021, it is really month of year depending.

    freight has got all the possible operators in Italy. i would start from GTS, GTS got few trains from and to Piacenza, two from and to Parma, and two from Bologna interporto, the two from Bologna interporto uses SBB cargo stuff iirc, same for Parma - Ulm, and the ones from Piacenza to Zeebrugge.
    MIR has a mix of trains of the line, many the Voghera - Piacenza line, some MIR do the change of PDM in piacenza.
    CFI uses the yard in Fiorenzuola and go south, then there is Dinnazzano po, I believe runs only between RE and Bologna in this line, after this i don't know any other operator, oh well, DB cargo Italia which runs from Milan (ie. Chiasso) on this line, not sure the terminus south.

    Parma itself isn't much of a freight yard nor a good stop for freight.
     
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