**2. Background of the project**

The Port of Trieste is located in the northern Adriatic, which is a strategic position at the intersection among important maritime routes and motorways of the sea and the European corridors, Adriatic‐Baltic, and Mediterranean (**Figure 1**). Therefore, it may play an important role (European gateway) for long distance traffic flows between the Far East and the markets of Central and Eastern Europe.

**Figure 1.** Map of European transport corridors.

ment projects of the Northern Adriatic seaports: they are considered as fundamental points of interconnection between different transport systems. Each port has therefore conducted specific research as part of NAPA Studies. As far as the Port of Trieste is concerned, its current infrastructure, layout, and operations were deeply investigated and the bottlenecks, which could negatively affect the role of the port within the network, were identified. Several institutions and subjects are interested in the progress of the port infrastructure and consid‐ er the NAPA project an opportunity for developing concrete solutions that could redefine the place of the port in the European network. A set of technically feasible alternatives was found

Three main stakeholders are involved in the decision process: the port authority, the Italian railway infrastructure manager, and the Region Friuli Venezia Giulia. They are all interest‐ ed in the development of the port but pursue different goals. On account of the complex setting, the multi‐criteria evaluation of the solutions has been considered as an important stage of the overall project aimed at supporting the final decision. Indeed, multi‐criteria methods give the opportunity to include in the evaluation of the project solutions several points of view and effects, some of which cannot be easily translated into economic values. The opportunity to understand the points of view of each stakeholder and involve them in the evaluation process is key features of some methodologies. On these grounds, the analyt‐ ic hierarchy process (AHP), which enables a transparent process and the explicit representa‐ tion of the decision‐makers, was selected to support the analysis and evaluation. By involving the key stakeholders and some experts in such activities, it was possible to build a valid and useful model that allowed to select the most effective alternative with respect to

After a short presentation of the background of the NAPA project, the main aspects of the discussion and decision to be made about the Port of Trieste are introduced. In Section 4, the multi‐criteria methods are presented with specific reference to strategic decisions in the transport sector and the AHP is briefly outlined. The section then describes the application of the AHP in the specific situation and the procedure that was followed to interact with the stakeholders. The results of the application are reported and discussed in the Section 5. Some practical aspects that emerged during the process are eventually highlighted in the

The Port of Trieste is located in the northern Adriatic, which is a strategic position at the intersection among important maritime routes and motorways of the sea and the European corridors, Adriatic‐Baltic, and Mediterranean (**Figure 1**). Therefore, it may play an important role (European gateway) for long distance traffic flows between the Far East and the markets

that encompass the reconfiguration of the railway infrastructure and operations.

116 Applications and Theory of Analytic Hierarchy Process - Decision Making for Strategic Decisions

the goals of TEN‐T policy.

Section 6, which precedes the conclusions.

**2. Background of the project**

of Central and Eastern Europe.

The port already offers regular sea side and direct connections with China, the Far East, Singapore, Malaysia, Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, and Israel. From the land‐side perspective, it is connected with the production areas and industrial North‐ East Italian and Central Europe, with different destinations, such as Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, and Luxembourg, serving a very interesting economic area. In 2015, the port handled 57.12 million tonnes; therefore, it is the first port of Italy for the handling of goods in tonnes (source: port authority).

Regarding land‐side infrastructure, the Port of Trieste has a long tradition in good rail connections and it is linked to the main Italian railway network through the Trieste Campo Marzio marshalling yard where all operations of train composition and de‐composition are concentrated. The port is connected to Trieste Campo Marzio by means of three openings (**Figure 2**, Varco II, Varco III, Varco IV circled in red), but currently only one of them (Varco III) is in operation. Moreover, insufficient curvature radii and a critical general layout of the marshalling yard cause excessively complex and time‐consuming shunting. The whole rail terminal has been identified as the main bottleneck for railway traffic increase inside and outside the port not only for the present conditions of the infrastructure, but also for its management.

The main reference document for planning and development is the Master Plan of the seaport. Starting from the analysis of the existing weaknesses and strengths, and in relation to a strategic vision and traffic increase forecasts, the Master Plan identifies a list of actions to be imple‐ mented in the port area. They include the extension/expansion of the existing facilities in the area of wharfs ("Moli") V, VI, and VII, and the realization of a new Logistic Platform, which is a modern and functional multipurpose terminal.

**Figure 2.** Layout of the seaport of Trieste.

In this context, the North Adriatic Ports Association Studies project (NAPA) was developed, which aims to support future development projects of the Northern Adriatic ports, thus contributing to the development of seaports as points of interconnection between different transport systems. In 2012, the NAPA carried out a market study on the potential handling capacity of containers in the ports of Koper, Ravenna, Rijeka, Trieste, and Venice. The five NAPA ports, in fact, intend to develop container traffic, becoming a multi‐port gateway for Asian and Central and Eastern Europe economies. Each port has, therefore, conducted specific research as part of NAPA Studies. As far as the Port of Trieste is concerned, its current infrastructure, layout, and operations were deeply investigated and the bottlenecks, which could negatively affect the port's role within the network, were identified. A set of different feasible solutions was found that encompass the reconfiguration of the railway infrastructure and operations, in order to make possible the composition and movement of trains longer than those currently possible inside the port, ensuring efficiency improvement of the operational activities, particularly for containers, and, consequently, traffic increase.

These improvements are also required to meet the railway infrastructure requirements for the core network within the European Union's Regulation No. 1315/2013 [1] on "Union guidelines for the development of the trans‐European transport network" (art. 39 "at least 22.5 t axle load, 100 km/h line speed and the possibility of running trains with a length of 740 m").
