Over the coming years, Bologna will undergo radical infrastructural development aimed at greatly enhancing the territory’s appeal and competitiveness. Infrastructural projects in the metropolitan area of Bologna are expected to total 4.9 billion euros, which with the national and supranational investments expected to come into the area will total nearly 20 billion.
Infrastructural projects of national and supranational importance
High Speed-High Capacity lines: work is now underway on the enhancement of the Turin-Milan-Naples lines and the fourfold enlargement of the most congested stretches of the Milan-Venice line: over 700 km of new tracks (including connections with existing tracks) to enhance freight and passenger traffic capacity within the context of a general overhaul of major railway hubs on the TAV line between Bologna and Milan. In 2008, the AV/AC (high speed/high capacity) lines will make it possible to travel from Bologna to Milan in 60 minutes and Bologna to Florence in 30 minutes.
Valico variant: the enhancement and enlargement of the Bologna-Florence motorway. The Valico variant is a strategic project for Italy for both the technical difficulties in constructing the road, 62 km of which pass through the Apennines, and the resources required to finance the project, whose cost exceeds 3 billion euros.
Enhancement of the Bologna-Verona line: By 2010, the railway connecting Bologna with Northern Italy along the Brenner line is due to be completed.
Infrastructural projects of local importance
There are a number of infrastructural projects designed to upgrade mobility within the Bolognese metropolitan area over the next few years:
Northern motorway bypass: is a new stretch of motorway which will enhance the city’s current orbital motorway system. The new development will be 40 km long with 3 lanes per direction and four new tollgates and will be easy to reach from growing production areas. Currently 120-150 thousand vehicles transit on Bologna’s motorway system each day, and the northbound orbital will reduce congestion from 17% to 2%, for a reduction in travel time of 26%. The project financing phase is due to start soon.
People Mover: a modern monorail transport system unaffected by road traffic featuring fully automatic gear and control systems in compliance with the latest standards of safety. The current project for the People Mover includes an airport-station link with one stop in the new Bertalia-Lazzaretto residential-university development, less than ten-minutes’ travel time and rapid transfers guaranteed by integrated stops at both ends of the line. Initially, the shuttle service will be provided by two trains for a total capacity of 1,500-1,650 passengers per hour per direction, which will be expanded at a later stage with the introduction of new junctions and a second line to achieve a total capacity of 6,000-6,600 passengers per hour per direction.
Metropolitan tramway: The number 1 line of the metropolitan tramway will connect the outskirts of the city with the centre, with stops in key commercial, administrative and business districts. The stops include the Fiera, Central Station, regional administration offices and Maggiore Hospital, for a total length of 12 km, of which 6.5 through tunnels.
The metropolitan train service (Servizio Ferroviario Metropolitano - SFM), is Bologna’s new public rail transport system. As a result of the laying of the “High Speed” network, 8 tracks of the existing railway system will be allocated to the SFM. The SFM will have 15 new stops in provincial municipalities and 8 within the municipality of Bologna.The new stops have now been completed. The new service will be fully operational once the new station for the Bologna Central High Speed/High Capacity line is complete.
Civis: is a guided tyre-based transport system. It will connect San Lazzaro di Savena (to the East) with the centre of Bologna, passing through the Central Station. The line will be 19 km long. Civis will be linked to the metropolitan train service (San Lazzaro Caselle), the Central Station (High Speed), the metropolitan tramway and the bus network. The guidance system uses a sensor installed on the power car to “read” special stripes painted on the asphalt. Civis is electrically driven and does not use tracks. Work commenced in September 2007 and is scheduled to finish in 2010.
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