Japan Railway & Transport Review 39 • July 2004 15

Latest Trends in Air–Rail Links

Feature

Copyright © 2004 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

The Leonardo Express

Federico Fabretti

After your flight lands at Leonardo da VinciAirport, Rome’s main airport in Fiumicino,it is just a short train trip into the city. Allit takes is the time to claim your luggageand then the Leonardo Express whisks youoff to Rome’s Termini Station in only31 minutes. Suddenly, you are right inthe hea r t o f t he E t e rna l C i t y ’sarchaeological and artistic splendours anda stone’s throw from the Baths of Diocletianfrom which the station takes its name.

All told, the train is by far the fastest(not to mention the cheapest and mostcomfortable) way of travelling betweenRome and the airport. By car, coach ortaxi, the journey can take an averageof be tween 60 and 90 minutes ,depending on the time of day and trafficcongestion you encounter. The cost byprivate car depends on the enginecapacity and the time that you leave thevehicle in the car park, but a recent

survey found it comes out at between€12 and €22 (€1 = US$1.28). If thisseems expensive, a taxi costs even morewith some people paying over €40. Onthe other hand, a ticket on the LeonardoExpress costs just €9.50.The first air–rail link was opened on the27 May 1990, following the completionof a new branch of the line from Rometo the station serving the small town ofFiumicino. This involved building a

Stations on Fr 1 with Connections to Other Ferrovia Regionale

Fr 5Fr 3

Fr 1

Fr 2

Fr 8Fr 6Fr 4

Fr 1

Fr 7

GrossetoViterbo

OrteMontalto di Castro

Tarquinia

CesanoSimiglianoGavignano Sabino

Poggio MirtetoFara Sabina

Monterotondo

Settebagni

Fidene

Nuovo Salario

R. Nomentana

R. Tiburtina

Piana BellaMontelibretti

Olgiata

La Storta

La Giustiniana

Ipogeo degli Ottavi

R. Smistamento

Ottavia

R. S. Filippo Neri

R. M. Mario

Gemelli

R. BalduinaR. Appiano

R. Valle Aurelia

R. San Pietro

Cassino Formia Pescara

R. Prenestina

Civitavecchia

S. Marinella

S. Severa

Palo Laziale Maccarese R. AureliaMarina di Cerveteri

Fiumicino Airport Ponte Galeria Magliana V. Bonelli

CiampinoCapannelle

R. Casilina

Roma Ostiense Roma Tuscolana

Roma TerminiMuratella Roma Trastevere

Leonardo Express

Cerveteri Ladispoli

Torre in Pietra Palidoro

Source: Ferrovie dello Stato (FS)Note: Each dash (�) indicates about 1 minute of travel time.

Japan Railway & Transport Review 39 • July 200416

Latest Trends in Air–Rail Links

Copyright © 2004 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

2.2-km viaduct taking the line right intothe airport complex and terminating ata three-platform station close to theinternational air terminal, but still isconvenient for domestic flights thanksto a network of overhead and movingwalkways.The first airport line terminated in Rome’sOstiense Station where a large air terminalwas also built, providing passengers witha range of services, including escalatorsand an overhead moving walkway that

passed over all the tracks, linking it to thehistoric station building on the other side.However, in September 1993, theterminus was moved to the more centralRome Tiburtina Station. Subsequently, itwas decided to run the trains further onto the Latium towns of Fara Sabina andOrte, creating a sort of overgroundunderground that continues to benefitcommuters living in the area and wasoriginally called the Fm 1 (Ferroviametropolitana or Metropolitan Railway 1)

but is now known as the Fr 1 (Ferroviaregionale or Regional Railway 1). Inaddition to these trains, 27 September1993 saw the start of the first non-stopdirect connection between Termini Stationand the airport, which came to be knownas the Leonardo Express in 2000. Afterleaving Rome’s Termini Station, the routeparallels Fr 1 from Rome’s TuscolanaStation to Ostiense and then joins Fr 1 atOstiense to run on the same tracks to theairport. When the first non-stop serviceswere launched, there were 38 trains perday, rising to 62 Leonardo Express servicesin 2000, and 70 today with departuresevery 30 minutes.Travel lers have a choice of twoalternatives—the fast Leonardo Express orthe Fr 1 services, which now boastmodern double-deck carriages known asTAFs (or Treni ad Alta Frequentazione,meaning high-traffic trains). These trainsdo not start from Termini Station, but dostop at six stations in the city (NuovoSalario, Nomentana, Tiburtina, Tuscolana,Ostiense, and Trastevere) as well as afurther four intermediate stops beforereaching the airport. The journey to theairport from Tiburtina Station (where high-speed trains on the Naples–Rome–Milanline will be stopping in the near future)takes 45 minutes compared to 23 minutesfrom Trastevere Station. On weekdays, atrain leaves each station in both directionsevery 15 minutes.But back to the Leonardo Express; thesoundproof carriages have climatecontrol and a sound system that willsoon be providing passengers with real-time information on the train’s cruisingconditions. Each train set consists ofan E464 electric locomotive, three UC-X IR passenger carriages and a driver’scarriage from which the locomotive iscontrolled. The seating capacity for300 also offers spaces with anchors forpassengers using wheelchairs as wellas toilets for disabled and extensiveluggage space. Both the Rome Termini

Leonardo Express at Fiumicino Airport Station (FS)

Leonardo Express passengers at Fiumicino Airport Station (FS)

Japan Railway & Transport Review 39 • July 2004 17Copyright © 2004 EJRCF. All rights reserved.

Presentation of prizes to customer 6,000,001 (FS)

Customer 6,000,000 with railway staff at Fiumicino Airport Terminal (FS)

and the Fiumicino Airport Termini haveservices for accompanying passengerswith disabilities to their trains and tothe station exits. The first LeonardoExpress departs from platform 26 inRome Termini at 05:52 and the lastdeparture is at 22:52. The platform isabout 200 m from the ticket office, butm o v i n g w a l k w a y s h e l p s p e e dpassengers as far as platform 24 andmake it easier for them to transferluggage. The first departure from theairport is at 06:37 with the last serviceat 23:37.Current statistics show that some 9000passengers are using the Leonardo Expresseach day and the figure is rising steadily.Customer satisfaction surveys indicate theservice is appreciated over taxi or privatecar due to its low cost, comfort, speed andsafety.Tickets can be bought at a wide variety ofoutlets, including all Trenitalia’s ticketoffices, as well as at authorized regionalsales points in bars, newsagent’s kiosksand tobacconists, approved travel agentsand self-service ticket machines in stationsand of all Italy’s major airports.A few months ago, Trenitalia concludedan agreement with a supervised indoor carpark in Via Giolitti (Rome), close to thedeparture platform. Now, anyone wantingto access the station by car can park inconvenience and safety for just €5 per day(less than half the normal charge) and buytheir Leonardo Express ticket directly inthe car park.The success of the service speaks for itself.To celebrate the landmark of reachingLeonardo Express customer 6 million lastJune, Trenitalia awarded a slew of prizesto a surprised Italian-Venezuelan engineerand a Russian tourist who purchased ticketnumbers 6,000,000 and 6,000,001.The p r i ze w inne r s—who foundunexpected (albeit fleeting) celebritystatus on local TV and in Rome’s majornewspapers—both received a bronzelocomotive plate from a historic electric

Federico Fabretti

Dr Fabretti is Head of Media Relations at FS. After obtaining a degree in politics, he joined IRI as press officer, subsequently

moving to work in media relations for the Italian government, Daimler Chrysler Italia, and Telecom Italia Mobile.

locomotive built in the last century, a silverreproduction of a Leonardo Express ticket,and a book of complimentary tickets.The prizes were presented by the LatiumRegional Councillor for Transport andPublic Works, underlining the respect thatthe Leonardo Express service has earned

in the eyes of local government and duein no small part to its beneficial effects ontou r i sm , t he economy and theenvironment. �