The Port System Authority of the Central Adriatic Sea Northern will manage the railway shunting operations in the port of Ravenna. This morning the president of the Port Authority, Daniele Rossi, and the director of the Infrastructure Operations Department Territoriale Bologna of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (Ferrovie group of the Italian State), Filippo Catalano, have signed the memorandum of understanding that will lead the Port Authority to be the Sole Manager of these activities within the airport harbour. In mid-2023 the railway shunting service within the port of Ravenna had been awarded for five years to the temporary association of undertakings composed of Mercitalia Shunting & Terminal of the Italian State Railways group and by the Dinazzano Po railway company ( of 13 June 2023).

The protocol provides for the port authority to become The single point of contact for port terminals and railway operators and takes care of all the activities necessary for the use of the tracks and the system of railway junctions within the port. The Port Authority recalled that in Ravenna this infrastructure is consisting of the two railway backbones of the new freight yards in left and right Candiano Canal and extended for almost 30 kilometers of tracks. The protocol provides that RFI will remain in charge of the extraordinary maintenance and investments in new infrastructure, while the Port Authority will take care of the management and relations with the terminals connected to the railway.

"It is a signature - exulted Daniele Rossi - for the Port Authority and for the port of Ravenna. A strategic choice for the future of our port that places us faced with new management responsibilities but focuses on the development of intermodal traffic with determination to make the our port an increasingly modern and decarbonized place. I thank all the operators who have embarked on this path together with the Port Authority".

«The assignment to the Port System Authority of the role of Sole Railway District Manager - said Filippo Catalano - will allow us to accompany growth of the share of rail freight traffic in the port area of Ravenna. The path has not been easy and they will still be needed a few months to define the complete transfer of competences, but There is no doubt that this protocol will ensure greater efficiency and simplification of the management of fittings and requests for new connections within the port of Ravenna"

The port authority has highlighted that in recent years the volumes of goods transported by rail in import/export in the port of Ravenna have increased to the point of representing on average the 13.5% of the total total of goods handled with a number of of more than 8,000 trains per year, a result that places the port of Ravenna ranks second in Italy for rail freight transport.