Rail transport in Italy
The Italian railway system is one of the most important parts of the infrastructure of Italy, with a total length of of which active lines are. The network has recently grown with the construction of the new high-speed rail network. Italy is a member of the International Union of Railways. The UIC Country Code for Italy is 83. In 2024, the Italian national rail service Trenitalia was recognized as the best rail passenger operator in Europe.
The network
RFI, a state owned infrastructure manager which administers most of the Italian rail infrastructure. The Italian railway system has a length of, of which standard gauge. The active lines are, of which are double tracks. Italy has 2,507 people and 12.46 km2 per kilometre of rail track, giving Italy the world's 13th-largest rail network.Lines are divided into 3 categories:
- fundamental lines, which have high traffic and good infrastructure quality, comprise all the main lines between major cities throughout the country. Fundamental lines are long;
- complementary lines, which have less traffic and are responsible for connecting medium or small regional centres. Most of these lines are single track and some are not electrified;
- node lines, which link complementary and fundamental lines near metropolitan areas for a total.
A major part of the Italian rail network is managed and operated by RFI. Other regional agencies, mostly owned by public entities such as regional governments, operate on the Italian network.
Travellers who often make use of the railway during their stay in Italy might use rail passes, such as the European Interrail / Eurail passes or Italy's national and regional passes. These rail passes allow travellers the freedom to use regional trains during the validity period, but all high-speed and intercity trains require up to a 15-euro reservation fee. Regional passes, such as "Io viaggio ovunque Lombardia", offer one-day, multiple-day and monthly periods of validity. There are also saver passes for adults, who travel as a group, with savings up to 20%. Foreign travellers should purchase these passes in advance so that the passes can be delivered by post prior to the trip. When using the rail passes, the date of travel needs to be filled in before boarding the trains.
Companies certified to run railways in Italy are:
;From 2000
- Ferrovie dello Stato S.p. A.
- Trenitalia S.p. A.
- Metronapoli S.p. A.
- Ferrovie Nord Milano Esercizio S.p. A.
- Rail Traction Company S.p. A.
- Del Fungo Giera Servizi Ferroviari S.p. A.
- Gruppo Torinese Trasporti S.p. A.
- SERFER Servizi Ferroviari S.r.l.
- Hupac S.p. A.
- Ferrovie Emilia Romagna S.r.l.
- La Ferroviaria Italiana S.p. A.
- Cargo Nord S.r.l.
- Ferrovie Adriatico Sangritana S.r.l.
- Sistemi Territoriali S.p. A.
- Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo S.r.l.
- Swiss Rail Cargo Italy S.r.l.
- SBB Cargo Italia S.r.l.
- Ferrovie Nord Cargo S.r.l.
- Azienda Consorziale Trasporti di Reggio Emilia
- Ferrovia Alifana e Benevento Napoli S.r.l.
- Ferrovie Nord Milano Trasporti S.r.l.
- Trasporto Ferroviario Toscano S.p. A.
- Ferrovie Centrali Umbre S.r.l.
- Railion Italia S.r.l.
- Rail One S.p. A.
- Azienda Trasporti Collettivi e Mobilità S.p. A.
- A.T.C. Bologna S.p. A.
- Monferail S.r.l.
- SAD - Trasporto Locale S.p.A.
- Nord Cargo S.r.l.
- Arenaways S.p.A.
History
After the creation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, a project was started to build a network from the Alps to Sicily, in order to connect the country. After unification, construction of new lines was boosted: in 1875, with the completion of the section Orte-Orvieto, the direct Florence–Rome line was completed, reducing the travel time of the former route passing through Foligno-Terontola. Private companies were definitively bought back by the Italian state on 1 July 1905, with the creation of the Ferrovie dello Stato, or FFSS, with a total of of lines, of which it already owned. The move was completed the following year with the acquisition of the remaining SFM network: by then FFSS possessed of lines, of which with double tracks.
The period from 1922 to 1939 was heavy with important construction and modernisation programmes for the Italian railways, which also incorporated from the Ferrovie Reali Sarde of Sardinia. The most important programme was that of the Rome–Naples and Bologna–Florence direttissimas : the first reduced the travel time from the two cities by an hour and a half; the second, announced proudly as "constructing Fascism", included the second longest tunnel in the world at the time, under the Apennines. Electrification on 3,000 V direct current was introduced, which later supplanted the existing three-phase system. Other improvements included automatic blocks, light signals, construction of numerous main stations and other technical modernisations. The first high-speed train was the Italian ETR 200, which in July 1939 went from Milan to Florence at, with a top speed of. With this service, the railway was able to compete with the upcoming aeroplanes. The Second World War stopped these services.
After World War II, Italy started to repair the damaged railways and built nearly of new tracks. Entire lines were out of action and much of the rolling stock was destroyed. Thanks to the Marshall Plan, in the following years they could be rebuilt, although the possibility of reorganizing the network was missed due to short-sighted policies. The main Battipaglia-Reggio Calabria line was doubled, while a program of updating of infrastructures, superstructures, services, colour-light signalling and cars was updated or extended. The three-phase lines were gradually turned into standard 3,000 V dc lines.
Increasing numbers of steam locomotives were replaced by electric or diesel ones; in the 1960s also the first unified passenger cars appeared and the first attempts of interoperability with foreign companies were started, culminating in the creation of Trans Europe Express services. Nowadays the rail tracks and infrastructure are managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, while the train and the passenger section is managed mostly by Trenitalia. Both are Ferrovie dello Stato subsidiaries, once the only train operator in Italy.
High-speed rail
The Italian high-speed service began in 1938 with an electric-multiple-unit ETR 200, designed for, between Bologna and Naples. It too reached in commercial service, and achieved a world mean speed record of between Florence and Milan in 1938.High-speed trains were developed during the 1960s. E444 locomotives were the first standard locomotives capable of top speed of, while an ALe 601 electrical multiple unit reached a speed of during a test. Other EMUs, such as the ETR 220, ETR 250 and ETR 300, were also updated for speeds up to. The braking systems of cars were updated to match the increased travelling speeds.
On 25 June 1970, work was started on the Rome–Florence Direttissima, the first high-speed line in Italy and in Europe. It included the bridge on the Paglia river, then the longest in Europe. Works were completed in the early 1990s.
In 1975, a program for a widespread updating of the rolling stock was launched. However, as it was decided to put more emphasis on local traffic, this caused a shifting of resources from the ongoing high-speed projects, with their subsequent slowing or, in some cases, total abandonment. Therefore, 160 E.656 electric and 35 D.345 locomotives for short-medium range traffic were acquired, together with 80 EMUs of the ALe 801/940 class, 120 ALn 668 diesel railcars. Some 1,000 much-needed passenger and 7,000 freight cars were also ordered.
In the 1990s, work started on the Treno Alta Velocità project, which involved building a new high-speed network on the routes Milan – – Salerno, Turin – – Trieste and Milan–Genoa. Most of the planned lines have already been opened, while international links with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia are underway.
Most of the Rome–Naples line opened in December 2005, the Turin–Milan line partially opened in February 2006 and the Milan–Bologna line opened in December 2008. The remaining sections of the Rome–Naples and the Turin–Milan lines and the Bologna–Florence line were completed in December 2009. All these lines are designed for speeds up to. Since then, it is possible to travel from Turin to Salerno in less than 5 hours. More than 100 trains per day are operated.
Other proposed high-speed lines are Salerno-Reggio Calabria, Palermo-Catania and Naples–Bari.
The main public operator of high-speed trains is Trenitalia, part of FSI. Trains are divided into three categories : Frecciarossa trains operate at a maximum of on dedicated high-speed tracks; Frecciargento trains operate at a maximum of on both high-speed and mainline tracks; Frecciabianca trains operate at a maximum of on mainline tracks only.
Since 2012, a new and Italy's first private train operator, NTV, run high-speed services in competition with Trenitalia. Even nowadays, Italy is the only country in Europe with a private high-speed train operator.
Construction of the Milan-Venice high-speed line began in 2013 and in December 2016 the Milan-Treviglio-Brescia section has been opened to passenger traffic; the Milan-Genoa high-speed line is also under construction.
Today it is possible to travel from Rome to Milan in less than 3 hours with the Frecciarossa 1000, the new high-speed train. As of June 2024, there are 46 Trenitalia and 33 Italo round-trip high-speed trains every weekday that cover this route,