In terms of train-kilometres, FS Group freight trains achieved a total of 46 million. This number is down by 5.1% compared to 2024. Similarly to the tonne-kilometre performance, foreign operations did marginally better, shrinking by 4.6%. “The result was affected by the weak macroeconomic environment, characterised by high uncertainty due to both the protectionist trade policy of the new U.S. administration, and pre-existing geopolitical tensions”, FS explains.

The financial picture

In financial terms, the company’s net loss amounted to 124 million euros in 2024. FS Group, which includes rail freight companies like Mercitalia and TX Logistik, therefore improved its net result by 22.6% in 2025.

FS Group’s freight operating result (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation, EBITDA) looks much better: 105 million euros in the positive. That is an increase of 41.1%. This is mostly attributable to a higher revenue (+48 million euros, achieved by TX Logistik, Mercitalia’s shunting and terminal branch and intermodal recovery).

At the same time, the company faced higher operating and personnel costs, which exerted downward pressure on EBITDA.

Cross-border traffic

The data provided by the country’s infrastructure manager also included cross-border traffic in 2024. The borders with Austria and Switzerland were by far the most important, especially since the main connection to France saw no traffic at all for the whole year. The two lines leading into Austria (Brenner and Tarvisio) saw 43% of total traffic going through them. Another 44% went through the three border crossings with Switzerland: Chiasso (19%), Domodossola/Domo II (15%) and Luino (10%). The Villa Opicina border crossing to Slovenia accounted for 11%.

The situation was much more dire for France due to the closure of the Frejus railway from August 2023 to April 2025. This closure meant that only 900 out of the 6,000 yearly trains meant for this line were re-routed via Ventimiglia in 2024. Usually, the Frejus border crossing via Modane accounts for around 6% of the total. Its closure caused a massive reverse modal shift to the road and the interruption of the rail highway service between the two countries due to subsidy cuts from both governments.

The rise of private operators

The growth in market share of a state-owned operator is somewhat of a unique circumstance in the current market. State-owned companies are losing ground to private operators in many countries, including Spain, France and Poland. Even giants such as German DB Cargo or Swiss SBB Cargo are facing significant difficulties which might lead to losses in traffic and jobs. More and more private entities have entered the market and, over the past couple of years, have taken a significant slice of the pie.

The group also increased its technical investments, mostly concerning the renewal of its rolling stock fleet, from 181 million euros in 2023 to 297 in 2024. The main contributor to the rail freight growth of the FS group was its international operator, TX Logistik. At the end of 2023, the company acquired Exploris, a company based in Germany running 240 trains per week. The “equity and financial effects (of the acquisition, ndr) were fully reflected in the situation of the FS Group starting from 2024”, FS pointed out.

Highest investments ever

When it comes to the FS Group in general, the net results showed a decrease of 308 million euros, from +100 million in 2023 to -208 in 2024. The main causes behind the negative performance in this case remain somewhat ethereal. The group stated that it was “due to the worsening of the financial management balance attributable to non-recurring phenomena linked to changes in the consolidation scope and to higher financial charges to service the debt”, FS stated.

The group’s EBITDA remained quite stable, from 2,23 billion euros in 2023 to 2,24 in 2024. Technical investments totalled over 17,5 billion euros, the highest ever result according to the company. The main ones mentioned by the group are for the Terzo Valico in Genoa, the Naples-Bari line and a few connections in the north.

The rest of the FS Group

When it comes to the segments of the FS Group, road and rail infrastructure posted negative EBITDA trends. The former had an EBITDA of 86 million euros compared to the 460 of 2023, while the latter went from 135 to 119 million euros. Just like the freight segment, passenger transportation posted positive numbers, with a 20.1 per cent growth in EBITDA to 1,86 billion euros. The Urban sector also posted significant growth, despite relatively small absolute values, with its EBITDA going from 33 to 158 million euros.

When it comes to similar initiatives, investment groups or big banks are usually tasked with estimating the value of an entity. “However, this is a relatively new segment when it comes to privatisation of this size. It will be interesting to see how the evaluation process pans out, especially considering the presence of RFI”, he said.

The State would remain in charge

An attempt to privatise FS Group already took place in 2015, under the government led by Matteo Renzi. “Back then the group was valued at about 10 billion euros”, Giuricin explained. Nine years ago, the process started but was not completed. This time, however, might be the one since the current Meloni-led government seems more stable and more keen to carry out the initiative.

The privatisation of the FS Group was brought up during the Prime Minister’s end-of-year press conference, making the government’s intentions quite clear. The State would remain the entity making the decisions, as the plan seems to entail the sale of a minority stake in FS, probably around 40 per cent. However, Giuricin highlighted that an effective privatisation process should boost efficiency. “Private investors might put some pressures on the public entity”, he underlined.

It needs to be mentioned that the process could be halted if the current government falls and is replaced by a coalition with different views, which is what happened in 2015. “It is an extremely complex operation, especially considering the involvement of RFI. However, it still is quite feasible”, Giuricin pointed out, saying it will probably take at least two years. He also added that this process shows how Italy, at least in this regard, is somewhat of a forerunner. No other countries in the EU have been seriously considering such an option.

An interesting deal for institutional funds

Giuricin thinks that this initiative might arouse the interest of various institutional funds. This is especially true when considering the inclusion of RFI, as infrastructure management brings in stable flows, and investments often have a long-term scope. Something similar happened in the rail passenger sector, with infrastructure fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners buying shares of Italo. However, there is also the possibility of attracting smaller Italian investors.

The FS Group

As stated by Giuricin, the size of the FS Group makes it difficult to estimate its value. The holding controls 17 groups, which comprise 32 companies including road and rail infrastructure management, passenger and freight operators and consulting firms.

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It needs to be mentioned that not all members of the Italian government are in favour of privatising FS. Ministry of Transport Matteo Salvini, in November, said it was out of the question since the group is considered one of the state’s crown-jewels. Industry experts, including Andrea Giuricin, already said that it will be a long process. “I don’t think it’ll happen before one or two years”, he highlighted in an interview with Nordest Economia.

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Adding important assets

The Exploris group currently runs around 240 weekly trains, which will be added to TX’s portfolio. The company’s locomotive fleet will also significantly increase from 91 to 166 thanks to the 75 owned by Exploris. The workforce is also expected to almost double, from 700 to 1,200 people.

Apart from operations within Germany, Exploris also operates multiple services on the East-West axis with the help of its subsidiaries Delta Rail, HSL Logistik and Via Cargo. It connects countries like Czechia, Slovakia, Austria and Poland with Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium with 12 direct services. Those services will all be transferred to TX Logistik’s network.

Apart from serving the European expansion of FS Group, the mother company of Mercitalia Logistics and TX Logistik, this acquisition has additional strategic significance. FS Group explained that the countries in which Exploris operates account for 34 per cent of Italy’s imports and 26 per cent of its exports, meaning that increased East-West volumes will also be transferred to Trans-Alpine traffic.

‘Confrontation is necessary’

The situation could soon result in a strike if the two sides do not manage to approach each other and discuss. “Confrontation is necessary to proceed to the immediate adjustment of the contractual conditions of the employees, on a par with the other colleagues operating in the various companies of the group and in the other companies in the sector,” stressed Fit-Cisl.

Additionally, the trade union underlined that TX Logistik can invest, grow its business and expand its activities due to the hard work of its employees. “Therefore, we demand the right wage and regulatory recognition for them,” concluded Fit-Cisl.

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Such was the impact that the first two carriages disintegrated and the third derailed. A fire erupted almost immediately after that. Survivors say that passengers were thrown through the window upon impact. The army has been called in to assist in the salvage and rescue effort, Costas Agorastos, the regional governor of the Thessaly area, told media on site. The severity of the crash is complicating the rescue efforts among the wreckage. Bodies were still being found five hours after the crash.

While the cause remains unknown, eyewitness reports suggest that the emergency brake was applied shortly before impact. Two rail officials have been brought in for questioning. Other reports mention that there had been issues with the signalling system on the line in recent years. The passenger train involved in the crash is operated by Hellenic Train, which is run by Italy’s FS Group.

Railway workers warned – Commission had taken action

Minor railway accidents in Greece are, more or less, part of everyday life, after years of mismanaging Hellenic Train and railway infrastructure. In this context, railway worker associations had announced in early February that safety measures in Greece are insufficient to ensure safe train traffic across the country, thus resulting in frequent accidents or incidents. On top of that, they warned that Greek authorities should not wait for a major accident to occur to take action and proceed to upgrades.

A few days later, on 15 February, the EU Commission decided to refer Greece to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to comply with rules on railway transport. Specifically, Greece failed to fulfil obligations under the Single European Railway Area Directive that dictates authorities to conclude and publish contractual agreements with railway infrastructure managers. In simple words, the directive aims to provide transparency in certain processes like obligation fulfilment and emergency situations management.

Members of various Italian workers’ associations, as stated by Il Mattino, claimed that already in 2020, the expectations were that the service would be discontinued. This is because Amazon was the sole customer and there was only one convoy dedicated to this service. Moreover, the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic played a role in decreasing demand for this service.

The story of the first Italian high-speed rail freight service

The high-speed rail freight service was launched by Mercitalia Fast four years ago, in November 2018, and was the first high-speed rail freight service in Italy. For this service, goods were traveling on an ETR 500 train, usually used for high-speed passenger transportation, tractioned by E.404 locomotives.

During its first months, the service was quite efficient, by achieving a 96 per cent punctuality, with the remaining 4 per cent delayed by less than half an hour. The train in fact covered over 520 kilometres in less than three and a half hours.

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The new section will be connected to the Verona-Brenner line in Roncafort, a neighbourhood north of Trento. Paola Firmi, Head of Technical Department at RFI, was named Special Commissioner for the project after a meeting with all stakeholders involved.

The Brenner Base Tunnel

When finished, the Brenner Base Tunnel will be 55 kilometres long and will connect Innsbruck, in Austria, with Fortezza, in the autonomous province of Bolzano, in Italy. The tunnel is a key element of the 425-km-long Brenner railway line, running from Munich to Verona. In total, over 230 kilometres of tunnels will be dug for the project. Freight trains will be able to travel at speeds up to 160 km/h through these lines.

The project is being supervised by BBT, a European public limited company for the construction of the tunnel. BBT is co-owned by Austrian railway company ÖBB and Tunnel Ferroviario del Brennero (TFB). TFB is owned by RFI and the provinces of Trento, Bolzano, and Verona.

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