Italian high-speed rail operator Italo is expanding its intermodal network after trialling a multi-modal ticket option this summer with bus connections from Itabus.
The company will add new connections to its Italo–Itabus services that were recently trialled across Southern Italy with “excellent results”.
Italo chief commercial officer Fabrizio Bona said: “We are satisfied with the results obtained in these initial months, which is why we have decided to expand our network and launch new connections, thus supporting the infrastructural and tourism development of the territories.”
Four daily connections were added to Campania services on 2 October, connecting Turin, Milan, Reggio Emilia, Bologna, Florence and Rome to Pompeii, Ercolano, Nocera Inferiore and Battipaglia. Travellers can use Naples Afragola station as the intermodal hub to change between Italo and Itabus.
A new route will also be launched from 18 October with up to eight daily services connecting the Southern Italian towns of Nola, Avellino and Grottaminarda with cities in the country’s central north.
Another multi-model route is active in Puglia, which connects the towns of Gioia del Colle, Massafra, Taranto and Brindisi with four daily services to Turin, Milan, Reggio Emilia, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Caserta and Benevento, using Bari Centrale as the intermodal hub.
The rail provider said services trialled in Sicily and Calabria will also be maintained, with additional stops added to the latter to extend operations into the neighbouring Basilicata region.
This includes two daily services connecting towns in Calabria with business and tourism hubs in the central north, and four daily connections connecting the Sicilian towns of Catania, Enna, Caltanissetta and Agrigento with Milan, Reggio Emilia, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples. Multi-modal tickets to Sicily include a ferry transfer to the island and Itabus services while on the island.
The move follows Italo’s acquisition of Itabus earlier this year and a recent distribution partnership with Trainline Partner Solutions.