List of contents: Introduction; The train companies in Italy; The route itself; Services; Signalling and safety systems; Rolling stock; Other pictures; Conclusion. Logo of the main train company in Italy Introduction Hello everyone, today I’m suggesting a new route from a country that has never been featured before on Train Simulator and Train Sim World: Italy. I know this suggestion will probably get discarded by the dev team but I’m publishing it anyway just to let everyone know that I’d really like a new Italian route on this game (mostly because it’s the place where I live and because it has never been featured before). The train companies in Italy The most important company in Italy is FS (Ferrovie dello Stato). This company is divided in two main branches: RFI (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana) that manages the routes in general and Trenitalia that manages the trains and everything regarding them. The route I'm writing about today is the Bologna - Parma one, that is located in Emilia Romagna, a region in the north of Italy. In particular, in this region, there is another "train company" that is formed of Trenitalia (70%) and TPER (Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia Romagna - 30%). TPER was acquired by Trenitalia and now, from 1st January 2020, the company is called Trenitalia TPER and serves the Emilia Romagna region with some extensions to Marche, Liguria and Lomabrdia. Trenitalia TPER's logo Also, the following logo is present on the side of each train owned by Trenitalia TPER (it represent the Emilia Romagna region): Emilia Romagna region's logo On the route that I'm suggesting, Trenitalia TPER operates regional services while there are also the "Le Frecce" services (also run by Trenitalia) that operate faster trains on the line and elsewhere in Italy. The route itself Now that I've described the company that runs trains in Italy, I'll start describing the route. This route is part of the bigger route that goes from Bologna to Milano, but I'm suggesting only the part from Bologna to Parma because, otherwise, the route would be too long (something like 200 km) while the distance from Parma to Bologna is "only" 90 km. I know this is quite a high number but the travel time is fairly low (about an hour long). Here you can see the full length of the route from Bologna to Milano I'm including the link to Wikipedia's page about the full route: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrovia_Milano-Bologna. --------------------------------------------------- The Wikipedia's page linked and all the following links are in Italian. To translate them you can change the language of the Wikipedia's page or use Google Translate to see the text translated in the language you prefer (you can use Google Chrome to take advantage of the native integration with Google Translate (PC and Mobile)). --------------------------------------------------- In Bologna there's also a big and new depot for regional trains (used by Trenitalia TPER) where they are stored and maintained. The depot seen from the outside The depot seen from the inside with an ETR 103 (on the left) and an ETR 521 (on the right) It is a straight route and the speed limit is quite high (200 km/h from Bologna to Castelfranco Emilia and 185 / 170 km/h for the rest of the route). The route is running on 3kV CC electrification from Bologna to Parma (only the high-speed lines have 25kV CC). Services The stops for a regional train departing from Bologna at 3.50 P.M. are: Anzola Emilia - 4.01 P.M. Samoggia - 4.06 P.M. Castelfranco Emilia - 4.12 P.M. Modena - 4.22 P.M. Rubiera - 4.31 P.M. Reggio Emilia - 4.40 P.M. Sant'Ilario D'enza - 4.51 P.M. Parma - 5.01 P.M. The stops you read above are for the regional trains that run from Bologna and travel all the way to Milano. Sometimes the regional trains stop at Piacenza and then these are their stops (the train taken as an example is departing from Bologna at 3.33 P.M.): Castelfranco Emilia - 3.50 P.M. Modena - 4.00 P.M. Reggio Emilia - 4.15 P.M. Parma - 4.31 P.M. The route would obviously be set in the present with a wide choice of rolling stock that I'm going to show later in this post. Here you can see the speed of the route (taken from OpenRailwayMap) Unfortunately I can't provide you a timetable of the services but you can go and visit Trenitalia's website (https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html) and compile the fields like this: From: Bologna Centrale; To: Parma; Departure: the day after the current one (preferably not Saturday or Sunday because the services are reduced); Hour: 0.00 A.M. (so you can see the whole timetable for the day); Return: you can leave that empty; Passengers: 1; Then press "SEARCH" and you'll be able to see the whole timetable for the day. You can also apply the filter to see only regional trains (in the right corner: Filter By: Regional Trains). If you press on "Details" of one of the trains, you'll be also be able to see every stops it does (along with the time). Signalling and safety systems In Italy is used a specific signalling system with specific signs. I'm not going to explain it here, but I'm including a link to a website that explains everything in detail (you can use Google Translate as explained before): https://www.segnalifs.it/ Trains also use two important safety systems and these are the SCMT (Sistema Controllo Marcia Treno) and RSC (Ripetizione Segnali Continua). I'm, again, leaving a link to a website that explains SCMT and RSC very carefully: https://www.segnalifs.it/sfi/it/sa/N_scmt.htm There's also the dead man's pedal but that system works as the ones in other countries (you have to keep the pedal pressed and lift the foot every once in a while in some trains and in other ones you just need to keep it pressed and move something in the cab to reset the counter). Rolling stock Regarding trains, there is a lot of variety to choose from. ETR 521 An ETR 521 in the standard Trenitalia's livery I'm including a link to the Wikipedia's page of this train: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitachi_Rock. They're EMUs built from Hitachi in 2017 and in service from 2019 and they're still in production to this day. The variant that could be used it's the Trenitalia TPER's one since they run services on this route. Their maximum speed is 160 km/h and are used as regional trains with an alimentation of 3kV CC. They exist in three variants: 421, 521 and 621 (respectively with 4, 5 or 6 coaches). Here are some images of the cab and interiors: You can also look at this website for much more detailed infos (Google Translate is reccomended): https://scalaenne.wordpress.com/2020/10/31/doppio-piano-parte-6-rock-caravaggio-etr-421-521-621/ Here's also a cab ride video of this train (not the exact same model but the cab is the same): ETR 350 An ETR 350 in the classic Trenitalia TPER's livery They're EMUs built from Stadler in 2013 and customised by AnsaldoBreda. They're part of the FLIRT family so they may seem familiar to you since this is the Italian version used from Trenitalia TPER (also with the special TPER livery). They're composed of 5 coaches, their maximum speed is 160 km/h and are they're used as regional trains with an alimentation of 3kV CC. Here are some images of the cab and the interiors: E 464 WITH CAB CAR A E 464 in Trenitalia TPER's classic livery This locomotive is a variant of the classic E 464 (this one is in TPER's livery) and also includes the cab car: Here's the link to Wikipedia's page about this train: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locomotiva_FS_E.464 and also the link to the Wikipedia's page of the cab car: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivalto These trains usually run with 4 or 5 coaches and are seen mostly during the weekends. They pretty old but still in good shape. They're, again, running on 3kV CC and their maximum speed is 160 km/h. Here are some images of the cab and the interiors: E 464's cab Cab car's cab I've decided not to include the "Le Frecce" services and also freight traffic because I prefer regional trains but those services and trains could always be added as part of a future DLC. Here are only some examples of "Le Frecce" trains and freight trains: ETR 700 (used for "Frecciargento" services), E 414 with standard IC coaches (used for Frecciabianca services) and E 494 (Mercitalia's locomotive used for freight services). You're free to look search these trains on the Internet since I couldn't add more images. Other pictures That said, this was everything I had to say. Here are some images of the stations found along the line: Bologna's station seen from the outside Modena's station seen from the "inside" Parma's station seem from the outside You can search on the Internet the other stations (I couldn't add more images). Conclusion This said, I think that an Italian route could be a nice addition to the game. If you have any questions just leave a post down below and I’ll relpy to you ASAP. Hope you enjoyed this suggestion and, if you did, share it with your friends to let Dovetail Games know we want an Italian route. Ciao!
This is unique and I wonder how does SCMT RSC work do you need to Acknowledge it like a DB ÖBB PZB? For Freight you have E402B or E403B during the late nights alongside ETR500 Cargo version. E402B also runs Sleeper trains through here
