APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200080003-4
Organization for Standardization, the FS is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC) and its subagencies, which regulate international traffic and standardize freight and passenger car equipment used in international traffic. The FS is a member of the European Freight Car Pool (EUROP), the International Trans-Europe-Express-Merchandises (TEEM), the Trans-Europe-Express (TEE) deluxe passenger-train service, the International Railway-Owned Company for Refrigerated Transport (INTERFRIGO), and the International Transport of Transcontainer (INTERCONTAINER). Non-Federal railroads are granted concessions from the state, which governs their operations under the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation.
Railroad employees are well trained. Modern work methods and specialized training of about 28,000 employees annually have increased the efficiency of the work force. Selected employees are sent to universities and training schools for specific courses. The number of employees has increased in recent years; FS had 177,400 employees in 1967 and 200,000 in 1972. Non-Federal railroad companies had 15,670 employees in 1970. The number of working hours for station staff has been reduced from 48 hours a week to 40 hours; a further increase in staff to cope with the workload is expected. FS employees receive many fringe benefits such as housing, medical assistance, and pensions. Employees are well organized into trade unions. Nationwide transportation strikes including the FS system have occurred in recent years.
Major classification yards at Rome, Milan, Bologna, and Alessandria have been modernized with central control systems operated from control towers; modernization has increased their daily classification capacity to 4,000 cars. The Milan classification yard became fully automated during 1972, and the Bologna, Alessandria, and Rome yards are to be automated in the near future. Other major yards having daily capacities of 1,000 to 2,000 cars are located at Novara, Venezia Mestre, Torino, Foggia, Alessandria, Verona, Naples, and Genoa. A new FS policy is to enlarge and modernize major yards and discontinue numerous minor yards.
The Termini passenger station in Rome has been modernized and enlarged to accommodate 35 million passengers annually. Other major passenger terminals serving 8 to 28 million passengers annually are Milano Centrale, Genova Brignole, Genova Piazza Principe, and Torino Porta Nuova.
Container terminals with facilities to handle international container units trains from North Sea ports and national container trains are located at Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples, and Bari; others having container handling facilities only are at Aprilia, Asti, Bologna, Brescia, Genoa, Modena, Novara, Padova, Piacenza, Rivalta Serivia, Torino, Trieste, Verona, and Vicenza.
On main lines maximum grades of 2.2% to 2.5% are common; a 3.5% grade is located about 12 miles north of Genoa, and 3.0% grades exist between Torino and Modane, France, and between Rome and Pescara. The minimum radius of curvature of 820 feet is on the lines from Bolzano to Brennero and from Udine to Tarvisio.
The 43,252 bridges 12 feet and over in length on the FS system have an aggregate length of 204 miles; they consist of 39,540 reinforced-concrete and masonry and 3,712 steel-span structures. The 1,900 tunnels, of which 1,574 are single track and 326 double track have an aggregate length of 607 miles. The longest bridge is a 11,674-foot double-track combination rail-highway masonry-arch structure of 222 spans over the Laguna-Veneta between Venice and the mainland. A parallel double-track bridge is to be completed by 1973. Other bridges of strategic importance which cross the Po and connect the rail lines of the industrial north with the southern part of the country are located as follows: 13 miles north of Alessandria (1,774 feet); 9 miles north of Voghera (2,506 feet); at Piacenza (2,506 feet); 40 miles northwest of Bologna (1,771 feet); and 32 miles northeast of Bologna (1,378 feet). The 11½-mile double-track Apennine Tunnel (Galleria dell Appennino), 20 miles south of Bologna, is the longest tunnel in Italy. Two tunnels of great international and strategic importance are the Simplon and Frejus (Galleria del Frejus) Tunnels. The 12½-mile Simplon, two parallel single-track bores, is located at Iselle and has 6¼ miles in Italy and the remainder in Switzerland; the Frejus, an 8½-mile double track bore, is at Bardonecchia and has 4¼ miles in Italy and the remainder in France. Numerous snowsheds and galleries protect track in mountainous areas. Double-tracking of the Naples to Reggio di Calabria line and the Ancona to Bari line necessitates additional parallel bridges and tunnels.
The 938 bridges on the non-Federal railroads have an aggregate length of 29.4 miles, and the 250 tunnels total 77.4 miles. Most of these structures are not adequately maintained.
The FS motive power and equipment pool is continuously being modernized in line with high-speed requirements and the closing out of steam traction by the end of 1973. Electric traction is predominant, and the 1,788 electric locomotives in operation (1,658 use direct current at 3,000 volts and
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200080003-4
