Local transport, the Milanese ATM running for the Thessaloniki metro

Atm meanwhile continues to manage the Copenhagen metro, for which it won the tender in 2008: 21 kilometers of line, 22 stations – of which 13 above ground -, for a service operated from Monday to Sunday, 24 hours a day. it is completely automated, therefore without a driver, as happens in Milan with the metro lines 4 and 5. Value: 100 million a year.

ATM’s “expansive” policy towards other countries is driven above all by the fact that transport management in Milan is no longer sufficient to guarantee profit or break-even balance sheets.

It is a problem born with Covid but evidently destined to remain so. In fact, the trend has also been confirmed in recent months: passengers are steadily around 20% less than in 2019. On the one hand, smart working, on the other, the habit of moving with personal means have significantly reduced the number of passengers, which means less financial income. In addition, the Municipality now has to manage the growing phase of the fees to be paid for Metro 4, the line under construction (of which the first 6 stations have been opened). In 2023 it will cost 60 million, in just 2 years the installment will jump to 100 million. And for at least a decade the figure is destined to rise.

The increase of the single ticket to 2.20 euros helps only partially, there was also a need for a 3% reduction in the surface service offered by ATMs, which however reduces costs by only 3 million. In 2020 Atm closed the balance sheet with a loss of 64 million; in 2021 with – 16 million. Even if the goal is a draw this year, matches abroad are still considered important, if not essential, to make ends meet.

But in Milan the race slipped again

Atm can participate in tenders abroad due to the fact that in Milan the service is not performed in-house but has been awarded through a tender. The assignment was extended until 2023, due to the Covid regulations. Now a new tender for Milan should be hypothesized (and Atm intended to participate within the Next Milano team), but the Public Administration is studying the possibility of a further extension for 2024, justifiable with the fact that the service contract offered by Palazzo Marino is now too low to guarantee effective competition, considering the extra energy costs and the quotas of metro 4. Translated: if no one else shows up for the tender, we might as well maintain the status quo.