'Ferrari of trains' puts Italy on fast track
Privately-funded service set to offer luxurious high-speed travel between Milan and Naples.
Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo, is an ambitious man. After all, he didn’t get to where he is now by sitting on his chair and sipping hot cocoa. A few years ago, he announced that he was investing in a plane to bring a private high-speed rail line to Italy.It took a couple of years to get to this day, but finally, Montezemolo has unveiled the very first train his company NTV is putting on the tracks in Italy. The train, which is being called “Italo,” is the fruit of years and years of testing and development by NTV and is considered as one of the most modern trains in Europe.
The Milan-to-Naples route will also be the first privatised high-speed route in Europe, offering an alternative model to government-funded networks in other countries.
How awesome is it? Among the many features of Italo, the few that stood out were on-board wi-fi and a small theater. Yep, a small theater.
NTV is expecting ITALO to have its maiden voyage on March 2012 with the company looking at a goal of carrying 10 million passengers annually across Europe by 2015.
Montezemolo isn’t the only big-time investor in the company. In addition to the Ferrari president, other investors in NTV include Tod’s Shoes CEO Diego Della Valle, the French Rail Company SNCF, and a slew of other Italian businessmen.
Related Articles
Russian Billionaires in dispute over USD 1bn stake
The Russian Oligarch Oleg Deripaska is alleged to owe 13.2% stake in Rusal, the world’s biggest aluminum producer, to Michael
WTO unveils first multilateral deal in 18 years
The World Trade Organization (WTO) signed the first major multilateral pact in 18 years negotiated by the 159 member nations
Sales tax increase approved by Japan's cabinet
The Japanese cabinet has passed a plan to double sales taxes in an attempt to control the soaring costs of
