European Territorial Cooperation for rail transport: CROSSMOBY as an example of sustainability and innovation

European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) in Italy is implemented through 19 operational programs which, in addition to the economic dimension of expenditure, represent a collective impetus to create networks, understand contexts and develop solutions in a dialogue between States, territories, companies, and institutions that it represents a heritage that deserves to be known and valued. From this premise, came the idea of the European Territorial Cooperation Report published by the Agency for Territorial Cohesion, an opportunity to know what is happening in the projects.
 
2021 has been designated the European Year of Railways and the CROSSMOBY project, co-financed by the Interreg VA Italy-Slovenia 2014-2020 Program, is among five projects selected by the 6 APS office (Projects and Tools Area) present in the Report n.2 published in March 2021, dedicated to the contribution of the European Territorial Cooperation to the development of rail mobility as a sustainable, innovative and safe mode of transport.
 
Cooperation actions are supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through three key components: cross-border cooperation, transnational cooperation, and interregional cooperation. In this context, ETC has financed projects that intervene in various areas of rail transport, identifying solutions for better management of services. In particular, the projects have:
- Identified pilot actions for the improvement of rail transport;
- Identified guidelines and / or action plans;
- Studied and identified elements of transferability of good practices;
- Introduced integrated pricing systems;
- Implemented actions for the activation of services such as bike-sharing and / or complementary services to rail transport.
 
The CROSSMOBY project addresses the issue of sustainable mobility trying to obtain results on two levels of action: transport services and mobility planning. The concrete lack of sustainable cross-border public transport along the Venice - Trieste - Ljubljana railway axis has prompted CROSSMOBY to rethink regional transport planning in the cross-border area, as well as improving the capacity of regions and cities to adopt and coordinate SUMPs (Sustainable urban plans). Among the results obtained so far is the increase in the offer of connections between the two countries, with the activity of new railway services between Udine - Trieste - Ljubljana. In addition, there is also the launch of sustainable transport in Slovenia and Italy with a pair of trains per day, 8 stops in Slovenia and 6 in Italy, with a capacity of 276 passengers and 30 bicycles. From September 2018 to August 2019, nearly 25,000 passengers traveled on CROSSMOBY trains.
 
The report is available in the attachment.