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.

The new structure of FS Logistix includes cooperation with seven industries: general cargo, chemical, steel, automotive, waste, cereal and consumer goods. The rebrand also includes a new website which FS Logistix claims puts the customer at the centre. This move is part of the digitalisation process of FS’ industrial plan, which will see over two billion euros invested.

Rolling stock revolution

FS Logistix will also benefit from the industrial plan launched by its mother company through a huge renovation project concerning rolling stock. In total, the companies in the group will receive 110 electric locomotives, 25 for shunting and 2,000 wagons. The hope is that, with the rebranding, the logistics arm of the FS Group will improve the current situation on the wave of the positive results posted in 2024.

Rumours about a possible discontinuation of this rail highway already surfaced a month ago, when AFA CEO underlined the impossibility of restarting it without concrete financial help. AFA is co-owned by Italian Mercitalia and French SNCF. Representatives from the Italian government are now saying that the two countries are looking for a funding mechanism. However, such an initiative would need European approval, which means longer times during which the vehicles will be travelling on the road.

After the service was discontinued, Mercitalia and its mother company Ferrovie dello Stato never excluded a possible return. The scraping of the modified wagons, however, now seems to underline how the service is gone for good.

The service connected the Maddaloni terminal, not far from Naples, to the Bologna Interporto intermodal hub. Already in its initial stages, industry players were critical of such an initiative, especially considering the presence of only one customer for it, despite being a big one such as Amazon.

High-speed rail freight: is it possible?

Finding ways to increase the speed of freight trains is somewhat of a key issue not only in Europe. In Russia, for example, trains are now running at lower speeds than in the 1960s, and competitive transit times between Europe and Asia are key to further develop rail freight services on this axis.

On the other hand, the Mercitalia Fast experiment in Italy seems to show that high-speed rail freight might not necessarily be the way to go, at least not yet. Running heavy trains at high speeds is not an easy feat, especially if it would concern trains crossing borders, where different (usually old) infrastructure would not allow for such services.

Six trains move the cargo every week. This service “represents the best example of our daily work”, said Mercitalia Logistics CEO Sabrina De Filippis. Putting Colgate-Palmolive products on the rail removes around 20,000 trucks from European roads every year. The Pomezia-Duisburg is a key route for the Mercitalia cluster, going from 2,000 shipments to 10,000 over the past 15 years.

Compagnia Ferroviaria Italiana is one of the largest private operators in Italy and it is owned by Italy’s largest independent infrastructure fund manager F2i. In 2022, the company reached an 11 per cent market share in Italy, the same as Captrain Italy and the highest among private companies. In Italy the market is still dominated by the state-owned operator, which in 2022 was controlling 38 per cent of the market.

When it comes to financial data, the EBITDA of FS’ logistics branch decreased by 37.9 per cent, from 29 to 18 million euros. This trend was justified by FS by the increase in personnel and other operational costs incurred by TX Logistik, the international rail freight operator of the group, despite the acquisition of Exploris Group. It needs to be mentioned that, despite the negative numbers, FS claims that “technical investments” grew by 135 per cent in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year, rising from 51 to 120 million euros. Most of these investments concerned fleet renovation.

A national negative trend

The numbers posted by FS’ logistics branch reflect the hardships that the Italian rail freight sector is currently facing. Volumes are generally decreasing, as the numbers for 2023 already showed, and the sector is currently in a fragile position. Between subsidy cancellations and infrastructure works that will disrupt traffic, prompt solutions are necessary, as the sector associations are stressing.

Mercitalia Fast

The Mercitalia Fast high-speed rail freight service was launched in November 2018 and was the first of its kind 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 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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• Rail freight in Italy set back in 2023, subsidies are key to remain afloat

However, it should also be noted that Amazon, being a traditional online retailer focusing on quick logistics, has been using trucks and road transport extensively to fulfil this role. Consequently, even if the share of rail is indeed steadily increasing in its operations, its total share still has space to grow, making the company a customer with great potential for rail and intermodal operators.

Some rail and multimodal logistics companies that Amazon already cooperates with in Europe include CargoBeamer, Mercitalia, VIIA and DFDS. The company also has contracts with sea operators Stena Line and Grimaldi.

Multimodality for SMEs

According to Amazon, and this is something interesting for the rail industry to keep in mind, most of its intra-European shipments concern small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which comprise 60 per cent of the platform’s sales. The best recipe to keep those customers happy is loading their cargo on intermodal units that can be easily transshiped between rail, road and ship.

A typical Amazon journey takes place between two of the company’s fulfilment centres. The intermediate stops include either rail or port terminals, with the first/last miles taking place by truck. In the case of rail, Amazon’s services resemble an ideal combined transport supply chain, where rail covers most of the distance and truck only provides the needed flexibility to and from the rail terminal.

The implementation of such solutions by global companies like Amazon is already a boost for rail and its capabilities in terms of fast and flexible deliveries through combined transport. What is most important, though, is the future potential that such companies have for European rail. There are already examples of post companies putting their shipments on trains to travel short and medium distances, for instance. The growth of rail share in such operations, or the operations of Amazon, signals that rail freight can eventually become a reliable partner not only for long-distance trips.

‘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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• Hit by the crisis DB Cargo Italia proceeds to staff layoffs and transfers

• How can companies deal with personnel shortage in Italy?