The transport network

An advanced logistics system

The logistics system for goods handling is among the most advanced in Italy. It comprises 17 freight exchange centres in the main regional cities linked to the port of Ravenna, the most important port on the Adriatic. Piacenza, with the development of a large intermodal logistics area and a favourable location is a reference point for the development of regional logistics.

The four airports of the region are also strategic: “Guglielmo Marconi” of Bologna, intercontinental, and “Federico Fellini” of Rimini, “Luigi Ridolfi” of Forlì and “Giuseppe Verdi” of Parma, international.
The volume of goods travelling from the Emilia-Romagna airports is higher than the national average, while the percentage of foreign passengers in arrival is constantly on the increase, currently reaching 65% of the total.

The Bologna logistic hub
Bologna, the regional capital, is the most important node for road and rail links between the north and south of Italy.

The Bologna freight village is an integrated system of logistics infrastructures with a telematics network, set over 2 million square metres and with an annual freight traffic of more than 3.8m tonnes.
The freight village has its own rail link to the ports of Ravenna, Trieste, Gioia Tauro, Taranto, Genoa, Livorno and La Spezia. Its strategic position for trans-European corridors means it is well-connected internationally. 

Bologna airport has a freight traffic of around 21.5 tonnes a year with connections to the USA and China.

The Bologna Food Processing Centre (Centro Agroalimentare di Bologna or CAAB) is a wholesale market and a logistics platform where large buyers coordinatethe supply of the distribution network.

The CenterGross is a European centre for wholesale trade and a base for logistics operators.

New infrastructures
The backbone of transport in Italy: Emilia-Romagna has now a fourth lane on the motorway between Bologna and Modena (A1), while the variant of the Apennine pass dividing the region from Tuscany will improve traffic flows. In the meantime, the progress of rail transport continues, with the High Speed rail project between Florence and Milan, which crosses Emilia-Romagna at speeds of 300 km per hour.
The Bologna-Milan rail link (one hour journey time) is currently operational while the  Bologna-Florence link (35 minutes) will be functioning by the end of 2009. The project of the Transeuropean adriatic Corridor will soon upgrade all regional mobility, together with other important interventions to expand the entire transport network.