National Centre for Sustainable Mobility

MOST

In the coming decades, the main challenge for the mobility of the future shall be to drastically reduce emissions by achieving thehighest possible level of sustainability worldwide. We will see a strengthening of the research and economic development chain, with technological enhancement for an effective green transition. This includes the carbon neutrality by 2050 and a digital transformation for an efficient and inclusive mobility service. In this context, the National Centre for Sustainable Mobility (MOST) will act as an innovation ecosystem of excellence, able to foster transformation through the systemic use of research results.

Through specific research and innovation programmes and activities, one of the aims is to promote innovative sustainable mobility, with new solutions, new propulsion systems, hydrogen and electric fuels, for a safer mobility system thanks to digital products and processes, aim to promote smart systems, monitoring and predictive maintenance, reducing fatal accidents.

Increasing resilience and efficiency of mobility systems, is to be achieved with solutions and services for public and private transport, together with a personalised and accessible mobility, fostering new social inclusion and strengthening the supply chain, national competitiveness and international visibility.

The National Centre for Sustainable Mobility (MOST) consists of 49 participating Entities including 25 Universities and Research Centres plus 24 Private Organisations.

The Centre has a Hub&Spoke approach where the Hub coordinates the Spokes that carry out the research activities. Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane is directly involved in the National Centre Programme through its own management structure (CN-MOST Coordination) within the FS Research Centre, coordinating the activities of 8 Group companies.

Coordinated by Politecnico di Milano

FS Group companies involved: Italferr, Mercitalia Shunting & Terminal, Mercitalia Intermodal, RFI, Trenitalia

The purposes of Spoke 4 have high level of multidisciplinarity, as technical, managerial and economic aspects. Same as the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport in the “Strategic Document for Passenger and Freight Rail Mobility” by the, the Spoke aims to:

promote the development of moving block signalling systems (within ETCS-L3) including satellite technologies for train positioning. In the same context, the migration from GSM-R to FRMCS represents an improvement in terms of benefits, and a challenge for cybersecurity, considering also the new Network Function Virtualisation (NFV);
define quantitative methodologies for assessing the capacity of lines and nodes along corridors, through the development of Transport System Models (TSM) for High-Speed Rail (HSR) to quantify the regional gap and raise the EU average quality of rail transport, related to TEN-T, RFC corridors, core port nodes;
develop infrastructure technologies and solutions, for a sustainable development of national and TEN-T corridors as well as strategic links in Southern Italy;
value the introduction of low-carbon hydrogen for clean rail transport along non-electrified ines and the improvement of the energy management;
development the bi-modal and battery (and/or fuel cell) powered rolling stock for use along partiallyelectrified lines, capable of short-range operation;
substain the rational use of energy for railway traction through active electrical substation and traffic control;
analyse the use of renewable energies in railway infrastructure and its auxiliary systems, along with the production and distribution of green hydrogen;
increase the Rail transport digitalisation oriented towards predictive maintenance approaches based on Big Data analytics for safe and sustainable infrastructure maintenance, both with fixed and on-board systems;
improve the efficient rail freight transport, through monitoring rain efficiency and the deployment of automation in terminals and onboard trains.

Coordinated by the Federico II University of Naples

FS Group companies involved: ANAS, RFI

The Spoke 7 aims to take methodological progress for application domains related to physical transport infrastructure as resilience and structural safety. The focus is on 3 work packages on:

traffic optimisation on transport networks
energy networks for green charging and refuelling
automated guide assistance for boosting automation levels.

The final scope is to create a “national model” for the implementation of automated roads. The objective includes the development of a laboratory network for the realisation of transport infrastructure digital twins for some part of Autostrade per l’Italia, Anas and Milano Serravalle, ”Testing before investment” is possible thanks to digital twins, that is a virtual application before investment.

A Living Lab project proposal is also being pursued, aimed at creating sections of road that are realised as automated highways.

Coordinated by La Sapienza University of Rome

The FS Group Companies involved: FS Holding, Busitalia – Sita Nord, FS Sistemi Urbani, Italferr, RFI

The Spoke 9 aims - with Rome, Milan and Parma, as living labs - to demonstrate how progress in modelling and industrial and information/digital technologies can solve real-life problems in the urban environment, let using people and freight cleaner, safer, smarter and more efficient modes.

The research will have three dimensions same as in the 2021–2027 National Research Programme (Person, Environment and Industry), with five transversal actions in the urban context:

systems supporting mobility analysis and governance
infrastructure and terminals
mobility and transport services
environmentally-friendly and clean vehicles and networks
connected and safe automated mobility.

The Spoke’s objectives are related to science, society, industry. Thus, the study activities shall be strongly based on fundamental research, are planned to investigate advanced solutions for industrial research and will be aimed at consolidating the results through experimental development, with the companies involved in the Spoke.

The second Spoke’s objective concerns the study of mobility behaviour: it will analyse the preferences and attitudes of individuals towards multiple integrated technologies and new services. Vehicles, network performance and people’s behaviour in mobility will be observed and analysed in a real and modelled context, as a “living laboratory”.

Meetings and projects

22° Nordic Seminar on Railway Technology

18-19 Giugno 2024 - The 22nd Nordic Seminar on Railway Technology was held in Stockholm at the prestigious KTH Royal Institute of Technology.

The seminar, which is held every two years in one of the Scandinavian countries, had as its theme this year "Developing technologies for a high capacity, integrated, environmentally friendly railway network".

Members of the predominantly Northern European railway community participate, including Researchers, Institutes, Authorities and industrial partners in production, operations, infrastructure and maintenance.

Sessions have been dedicated to specific topics including railway infrastructure, rolling stock, maintenance and emerging technologies.

Eng. Luca Beccastrini Resp. Coord. FS-MOST presented the intervention prepared with Eng. Tartaglia Head of the FS Research Centre, relating to some of the innovative initiatives that the FS Group is carrying out as part of the National Center for Sustainable Mobility Programme.

The presentation aroused the attention of numerous participants who at the end of the speech asked several questions demonstrating the interest.

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Projects for sustainable mobility: FS Italiane at the AICQ Conference

31 May 2024 - The event, entitled “The construction sector between now and the future. How the public contract code helps to innovate and manage sustainable processes in the construction of infrastructures”, held at the ANCE (Associazione Nazionale Costruttori Edili - the national association of building constructors) headquarters in Rome, was an opportunity to exchange information on the present and future of construction and was attended by various national players in the sector: from design and construction companies to certification bodies and freelancers.

The FS Group participated in the initiative with the following talks from Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, Italferr and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane:

“The application of sustainability ratings in station design” - (Antonello Martino, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana);
“Beyond risk - innovation and value enhancement for infrastructure projects” - (Guido Mastrobuono, Italferr)
“The Integrated Management System applied in construction sites and the evolution towards the digital system: ITALFERR's experience” - (Cecilia Cazzola - Luca Dominici, Italferr)
“FS Italiane in MOST. Innovative projects for sustainable mobility” - (Luca Beccastrini - Ersilia Pressi, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane)

FS Italiane emphasised the importance of creating synergies and continuing the collaboration between public and private entities, within the framework of the national centre for sustainable mobility (MOST), in which the projects presented in the last talk are developed and which guides study and research activities for the creation of value in Italy, with the aim of creating a sustainable mobility ecosystem that can support and facilitate future generations.

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