La never ending story about the commissioning of the new trains of the metro line 1 in Naples continues because the expected start date has been postponed.
The trains they should have started up before the summer or, in any case, by July, but there were impediments e probably will enter service a September 2022.
As stated by the Mayor of Naples Gaetano Manfredi, the work on these new vehicles has been going on more intensely since January, despite everything it is now difficult to make precise predictions. Everything will be done to get them online in September. All the necessary documentation has been sent to the Ministry of Infrastructure and will also be carried out in the next few days of July new evidence. Just the Ministry, however, it is much more cautious.
Still security problems: the Minister is cautious
In reality, there still seem to be some obstacles, just think of what Enrico Giovannini, Minister of Infrastructure said, according to which some evidence has shown problems. The reference is testing went badly last year due to a fire and it is reasonable to think that you want to be very cautious on the safety side.
The mayor of Naples increases his disappointment even more because his career has seen him born as engineer and they were many tests it has done and supervised, so the experience from his is high.
During the meeting between the Minister and the Mayor there were discrepancies because for Giovannini the priority to safety and it will be Ansfisa, the National Agency for Railway Safety, to decide on:
I respect the work of all the institutions, and as such the work of the national security agency Ansfisa, which is doing its job with great commitment and in a very serious way, must also be respected. There is some information to be provided by the manufacturer and we also know that some evidence showed some problems. So it's in everyone's interest to go as quickly as possible. I also talked about it with the mayor last week, and Ansfisa is strongly committed. But all institutions, including business partners who have supplied the goods, must commit to give quick answers.
Meanwhile the 15 July another night of verification is planned, during which the metro will close earlier, hoping it is a further step towards the maximum level of security. Also why have new trains would facilitate the opening of new stations, like that of the Centro Direzionale scheduled for December, and if there were still 40-year-old trains, this would only result in lengthening the already long waits.
The increase in the ticket price
There is to consider the fact that after the summer the ticket will increase by 10 cents, in the words of the Mayor, therefore having a more efficient service will make this change less painful.
The characteristics of the new trains
The new trains that will be in service will be more functional and effective, with the following characteristics:
- capacity of 1200 Guests;
- length of 105 meters, double the current ones;
- frequency which will be about 5 minutes compared to the current 10 or 12;
- with plant of conditioning;
- systems for the noise reduction;
- ability to carry four wheelchairs for the disabled.
Photo source: Il Mattino
