Faster import/export from freight terminals and increased intermodal transport
Faster and more streamlined handling of goods arriving at and departing from freight terminals and increased ship/train/road intermodal transport through specific cooperation with customs authorities. These are the main advantages of the AEO (Authorised Economic Operator) authorisation that the Modena office of the Customs and Monopolies Excise Agency has issued to Terminali Italia, the Rete Ferroviaria Italiana company that deals with the integrated management of terminal services (loading and unloading of swap bodies, containers, semi-trailers and train shunting) at RFI's intermodal terminals.
This authorisation, the first issued to a public company in the sector, certifies that Terminali Italia meets all administrative, financial and customs reliability requirements as well as security standards for the handling of goods to and from abroad, in line with EU regulations governing relations between private entities and the authorities in charge of international trade control.
“AEO authorisation will speed up import and export flows and streamline customs clearance processes. An important achievement in offering increased network traffic appeal with the aim of increasing and promoting intermodal transport including sea, rail and road transport”, said Giuseppe Acquaro, Terminali Italia's Chief Executive Officer.
The first terminal to benefit from the AEO is Marzaglia (Modena) which, having already obtained authorisation for the “temporary storage warehouse”, will be able to start work on activating a Fast Corridor between the port of La Spezia and the Modena terminal. A rail corridor that will allow freight trains to be sent without the issuing of customs transit documents.
THE MARZAGLIA TERMINAL
The Marzaglia depot owned by RFI, built with an investment of 110 million euro, has 7 tracks, 3 of which were activated at the end of 2018, 2 operational since November 2020 and 2 in operation as of spring 2021. The terminal has 2 gantry cranes, 7 self-propelled cranes (there were 3 at the beginning of 2021) and 2 shunting locomotives. In total, the area covers 210,000 square meters, of which 30,000 square meters for container maintenance and repair, including the workshop and cutting-edge closed-circuit washing facility. In 2018, the Marzaglia terminal on the conventional Bologna-Piacenza line was also completed, reserved exclusively for freight traffic and equipped with 6 tracks to allow trains to easily reach the depot. In 2021, 1492 trains (30 in 2020) and 59,480 containers (1,045 in 2020) were handled for a total of 70 thousand TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units).
A further gradual increase of connections to and from the main Italian ports and inland terminals is planned for 2022, with the aim of reaching 98 trains per week (49 pairs) by the first half of the year. Two railway companies in particular will use the terminal with trains to and from La Spezia, Livorno, Genoa and Ravenna. Today, there are 24 Terminali Italia employees working at the terminal, including crane operators, hall operators, and shunting operators (there were 16 in 2020). Further recruitments are planned.
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