Examples of activities to be carried out concern the strengthening of regional and interregional public transport services on routes with significant potential demand, including through support for the renewal of rolling stock, the renewal of equipment, the strengthening and efficiency of the network and its interchange nodes, the development of interoperability and the promotion of tariff integration.

In particular, infrastructural interventions, capable of strengthening the regional network, to complement the interventions carried out with the 2007-2013 programming cycle will be implemented, with particular attention to the modernization and increased efficiency of existing lines. The effectiveness of efficiency recovery actions in the rail sector is closely linked to the possibility of acting on the demand, even unspoken, for mobility between large traffic areas. The investments in rail transport systems to be financed also aim at optimizing the load factor of services.

Together with this, the interchange nodes on the regional territory will be functionally qualified in order to guarantee a rapid and effective transhipment between the regional and national lines, and to improve the qualitative and functional performances. A particular relevance is given to the qualification of the intermodal nodes (cities, airports, ports and logistic platforms) of the network, in order to make them effectively included in the European network.

In this regard, efforts will be focused on the implementation of the capacity of the “node system” to become an effective and attractive “portal" for the demand for transportation. Operationally, investment in the relationship between the “node” of access to the railway infrastructure and its relationship, will also be made, with the underlying demand basin aiming at promoting local investment initiatives also as a multiplier of transport demand.

These measures also complement the effective reorganization of transport services that is underway with the drafting of the Three-year Service Plan (PTS). It will also promote better integration of modal networks with airports, ports and railway stations, airports, ports and railway stations, buses and railways, which will have to be re-thought as “multimodal connection platforms for passengers".

Specific measures are also planned to upgrade the rolling stock in order to make full use of the network's potential as a result of infrastructure interventions in progress or completed, and to achieve the objectives of rationalization being defined with the “planning". The Commission's proposal for a Three-year Planning of transport services (PTS). In this regard, technological innovations for comfort and quality of travel act as fly to support the rail carrier, especially on the most “loaded” relationships of the network. The planned interventions are specifically aimed at improving the reliability of this transport solution: quality and comfort of rolling stock, support for the flexibility of interoperable tickets, increase in network capacity.

Specific actions shall be aimed at completing investments in safety and interoperability for the unification of the regional rail network, and the development of interconnections with that of national rank. In particular, technological investments in intangible infrastructures dedicated to the safety and automation of train circulation, as well as the elimination of level crossings, make it possible to improve the mechanisms of allocation of railway capacity with a desirable recovery of potentially attractive train paths, particularly on high speed routes attendance. The network interconnection operations, accompanied by the sharing of the implementation model of the systems of already tested, will ensure interoperability, which is the first step in designing the single regional network and promoting specific measures, to make the multimodal, passenger and freight chains effective, including through the use of the best service standards for information and remote traffic management (ITS and ERTMS).

This is the context of the strategy for integrating regional links with urban and suburban links. They will propose, then, new solutions in the way of engagement of the constrained-driving infrastructure useful both for the inter-pole relations and in the urban distribution. These measures will be implemented by means of investments to ensure the continuity of the railway mode also in urban and suburban relations. The typical nature of the technological solution to be proposed reinforces precisely the relationships between the hierarchical levels of the transport network: the speed of regional connections is effectively related to the widespread urban distribution in the city, through modest infrastructural investments and innovative means of transport.

Further investment in automotive transport services strengthens the supply of rolling stock and related technologies, modulating investment between the following main service levels:

• the first level is dedicated to the provision of services on high-traffic routes that support the rail carrier during the periods of lowest demand;
• the second level is that of “rapid interpolation services" for routes not served by the railways or served with quality standards (travel times and service frequency) that are not adapted to demand;
• the third level is that of resolving the connections of the last mile of access to the super-structured network (first- and second-level rail or car connections, as described above).

Beneficiaries: Apulia Region, Holders of local public transport service contracts, Local Authorities.