Rete Ferroviaria Italiana | RailFreight.com

Italy and its ports keep struggling to boost rail freight

Marco Raimondi — Wed, 11 Feb 2026 08:52:37 +0000

For the fourth year in a row, rail freight in Italy continued to decline. The number of trains handled in the country’s main ports continues to decrease as well, highlighting challenges all across the supply chain.
Unfortunately, the situation is not expected to improve until 2027, when many of the construction sites across the Italian rail network will be completed. “2026 will be another year marked by traffic interruptions and operational challenges”, underlined Giuseppe Rizzi, managing director at Fermerci, the main industry association in Italy.

After hitting 53,8 million trains-km in 2021, the performance of rail freight has been spiralling downward, hitting 49,3 million trains-km in 2025 after constantly decreasing, according to data from the Italian infrastructure manager RFI. This is 3.5% less than in 2024 (51,1 million tonne-km) and 8.4% less than in 2021, Rizzi pointed out, which highlights the alarming fragility of the sector.

Bittersweet port development

The situation is arguably just as dire for rail freight in the main Italian ports, where the number of freight trains has been going down since 2022. The year that just finished brought a new low, with 44,152 trains – 2.5% lower than 2024 and 8.5% lower than 2022. The steepest declines between 2024 and 2025 were recorded in the ports of Ravenna (-6.9%) and especially Genoa Voltri (-26.7%).

Despite the general negative trend, a handful of smaller ports posted positive numbers, the data showed. Livorno (+16%) and Genoa Marittima (+16.3%) both handled around 3,000 trains in 2025. The port of Monfalcone, part of the same port authority governing Trieste, handled more than 2,000 train for the first time thanks to a +21.1% increase. Finally, the port of San Fernando (Gioia Tauro), reached 1,063 trains handled, 31% more than in 2024.

The number of freight trains handled in the main Italian ports over the past five years. Image: Data from RFI, © Fermerci

If for rail freight in general there is not much optimism for the near future, things may be a little different for freight trains in ports. The European Commission recently approved a financial aid scheme proposed by the Italian government to subsidise shunting operations in Italian ports. More specifically, 30 million euros are allocated for the next five years, with a cap of 500,000 euros per company.

Italy to lower track access charges 6 months earlier than planned

Marco Raimondi — Fri, 16 May 2025 08:06:02 +0000

The Italian rail infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) was planning to introduce a new tariff scheme for track access charges (TAC) in 2026, which would have significantly reduced costs for rail freight. In a welcomed-by-all move, the country’s ministry of transport decided to advance it to 1 July 2025.
This initiative should save the rail freight industry 20 million euros, which will be covered by RFI now that the ministry gave its green light. The scheme entails a discount of 80 cents per kilometre, 33% lower than current TAC. The news was applauded by both Italian sector associations, Fermerci and FerCargo. Fermerci’s president Clemente Carta defined it as “a first tangible response to the economic suffering that hit the sector”.

The issue of TAC is a burden for railway undertakings all over Europe. From Germany to Sweden, from the Netherlands to Romania, the ability-to-pay of rail freight companies is basically non-existent. The European Commission recently tried to intervene by adopting new guidelines on how TAC should be set up. However, these are not binding, which means that member states are still quite free to do as they see fit.

Italian ports continue downward rail freight trend

Marco Raimondi — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 10:51:03 +0000

The Italian rail freight sector is in a crisis that has been ongoing for the past couple of years. The impact of this setback can also be felt in the country’s ports, which have generally been losing rail volumes since 2022.
“Even if every year the loss is relatively small, consecutive negative years add up and have created a significant impact”, said Giuseppe Rizzi, general manager of the Italian industry association Fermerci. Between 2021 and 2024, the number trains to and from Italian ports dropped by 6 per cent, while in trains-kilometre the recorded reduction was 5 per cent.

More specifically, the number of freight trains in Italian ports decreased by almost 3,000 units, from 48,278 to 45,288, according to data from the country’s infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI). The current numbers are even lower than the 2021 levels, which still saw over 46,600 trains being deployed.

Infrastructure works continue to be a challenge

When analysing individual ports, the trend is not the same. Among the major ones, Trieste saw 13 per cent fewer freight trains, and a smaller reduction was recorded at the nearby port area of Monfalcone. For the port of Genoa, data from RFI shows a decrease in both the Voltri and Marittima stations. For both Trieste and Genoa, the loss of traffic has been ongoing since 2022.

Planned infrastructure upgrades are expected to reverse the trend and put more cargo on the railway from both Genoa and Trieste. However, many of the projects will not be ready in the immediate future and their construction is currently disrupting traffic, and will probably continue to do so, due to infrastructure unavailability. For example, things should significantly improve for the port of Genoa once the Terzo Valico is completed, albeit some doubts remain.

Positive signals from Livorno and Ravenna

Despite the general negative figures, there are a couple of ports where rail freight is on the rise. The two main examples are Livorno and Ravenna, respectively on the west and east coasts of Italy. The port of Ravenna handled over 7,000 freight trains in 2024. In Livorno, the number of trains in 2024 rose over 2,700.

An overview of rail freight in Italian ports over the past four years. Data provided by RFI, graph made by Fermerci.

RailFreight Summit 2025

The synergies between ports and railways in Europe will be one of the focal point of the upcoming RailFreight Summit 2025 in Gdańsk, Poland, on 8 and 9 April. Join hundreds of industry representatives in lively debates on how to boost the modal shift to rail and how this modality become more prominent in ports. You can find out more about the programme here and register here.

RFI to start experimenting with magnetic levitation for rail freight

Marco Raimondi — Tue, 24 Dec 2024 09:21:17 +0000

The Italian infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) will cooperate with Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico (RSE) in the context of magnetic levitation for rail freight. The tests will take place at RFI’s closed circuit in Bologna San Donato so that traffic is not disrupted.
The initiative revolves around the so-called Pipe§net technology, “which uses magnetic levitation and electric motor propulsion”, RFI’s mother company Ferrovie dello Stato pointed out. These kinds of technologies would allow for significantly faster rail freight transport, which would benefit the delivery of medical goods and other items which require immediate use.

Italy seems to be at the forefront of magnetic levitation technology applied to the rail freight industry. Other than this collaboration between RFI and RSE, there is a project led by IronLev which does not require infrastructure upgrades. These tests were carried out last May along the Adria-Mestre line near Venice.

Feasibility study to (re)connect Turin with Switzerland is underway

Marco Raimondi — Tue, 03 Dec 2024 10:23:06 +0000

The reopening of the Arona-Santhià line in northern Italy, a key missing piece to link Turin with Switzerland, is now one step closer to reality. The country’s infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) has finally started a feasibility study, which will last until the first half of next year.
The Arona-Santhià railway, inaugurated in 1905, stretches for 65 kilometres. Traffic along this line has been suspended since 2012, but new demand for rail freight services pushed for a possible reopening. The infrastructure needs to be revamped as, after it was closed, crossing levels and barriers were removed as well as parts of the tracks and signalling systems.

The feasibility study launched by RFI will cost five million euros, which were allocated in December 2023 and finally approved last summer. Two years ago, cost estimates for a full reopening were set between 36 and 44 million euros. Both the Piedmont region and the Novara province are in favour of a reopening plan, despite it was the former which pushed for the traffic suspension in 2012.

Many questions remain about the Terzo Valico project in Genoa

Marco Raimondi — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 09:49:29 +0000

The project for the so-called Terzo Valico, a new railway which is expected to boost freight traffic from the Italian port of Genoa, remains under a veil of uncertainty. Local and national politicians are now expressing their worries about the project’s timeline and the lack of clarity about the infrastructure surrounding the future line.
The Terzo Valico will create a new connection, along a four-track railway, between Genoa and Tortona, the start of the Rhine-Alpine axis. The main issue is that the 2026 deadline set by Italian infrastructure manager RFI concerns the end of the works, not the start of operations. In other words, trains might start to run regularly along this new railway only in 2027, as former Italian senator Maurizio Rossi highlighted.

Moreover, it seems that convoys will initially have to run on a single-track, with no clear deadline for when the whole infrastructure will be ready. The main issues causing these delays are of geological nature. Most of the line will be in tunnels, the digging of which has often been disrupted by high pressure of the ground above or the presence of gas. So far, only the northernmost section of the Terzo Valico, linking Tortona with Rivalta Scrivia, has been commissioned.

What about the Tortona-Milan section?

The following section of the corridor, between Tortona and Milan, also needs to be quadrupled to fully exploit the benefit of the Terzo Valico. The timeframe for this project, which was divided into two sections, remains somewhat vague. RFI confirmed that the Milan-Pieve Emanuele section will be completed by 2026, but for the Pieve Emanuele-Pavia section the project is still seeking authorisations and funds. “Without the quadrupling of the Tortona-Milan railway line, the benefits of the Third Valico risk remaining incomplete”, said Italian senator Lorenzo Basso.

Map of the Terzo Valico (in green the underground sections). Image: © Terzo Valico

Italy greenlights project for a new rail freight hub in Piacenza

Marco Raimondi — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 10:03:14 +0000

The Italian Ministry of Transport approved a plan to create a rail freight station in Piacenza, a city located between Milan and Bologna. The new facility will be in the Le Mose area, in the east of the city.
In other words, rail freight operations that are currently carried out at the Piacenza main rail station in the city centre will be moved to the Le Mose neighborhood, the city’s main industrial area. The track bundle at the main station reserved for rail freight will be dismissed, leaving room for more urban projects.

The construction of the new rail freight hub will also involve the Italian infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, which will first draft a technical and economic feasibility study. RFI’s CEO Gianpiero Striscuglio said that the results of the study shall be ready by 2025, and the project will continue from there.

Big rail freight plans for the Piacenza Le Mose area

The Le Mose area in Piacenza is already home to the Piacenza Intermodal Terminal, managed by Hupac. This facility is also undergoing a major upgrade, expected to be commissioned between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025. Thus, the future seems to look bright for rail freight in this strategically located Italian city.

Hundreds of trains to be rerouted due to two-week railway closure in Northern Italy

Marco Raimondi — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 10:11:36 +0000

Starting tomorrow, 12 July 2024, the railway connecting Udine and Tarvisio, in northeastern Italy, will be closed for 15 days, until 27 July 2024. This will be quite the thorn in the side for various rail freight companies relying on the Tarvisio-Villach border crossing between Italy and Austria. For example, Austrian Rail Cargo Group (RCG) will have to reroute over 200 trains
“Approximately 150 trains need to be rerouted and coordinated in both directions via the Brenner, and around 60 trains via Slovenia on the line between Jesenice and Villa Opicina”, an RCG spokesperson told RailFreight.com. Another possible alternative line for operators would be the one going from Udine to Jesenice via Nova Gorica. Rerouting such a high number of trains from one line to various others might also cause additional capacity issues, as these lines might not be able to fully absorb the new volumes.

The Udine-Tarvisio railway, also known as Pontebbana, is a key line in Italy as it continues to the port complex of Trieste and Monfalcone, the most active in Italy when it comes to rail freight. The 15-day closure was scheduled by the Italian infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana to carry out upgrades concerning technology and infrastructure. This is the second closure in two years for the Pontebbana railway. In July 2022, the line was closed for the whole month due to upgrades along the Carnia-Tarvisio section, an action that negatively affected rail freight volumes in the port of Trieste.

Italy awards contracts worth 477 million euros for Rome-Pescara line upgrade

Dennis van der Laan — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 07:26:00 +0000

Italian rail infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) has awarded two contracts, which are worth 477 million euros, for upgrades along the Rome-Pescara line. According to RFI, the upgrades will have numerous benefits, among which is the potential growth of freight traffic.
The two contracts concern upgrades between the intermodal hub Interporto D’Abruzzo and Manoppello, as well as Manoppello and Scafa. They are worth 142,7 million euros and 334,9 million euros respectively, together amounting to approximately 477 million euros. RFI awarded the contracts to the companies Salcef and Eteria Consorzio Stabile Scarl.

On the Interporto D’Abruzzo – Manoppello section, the main construction works include a new five kilometre double track and an electrical substation to facilitate the upgrades. It will also feature adaptations to the Manoppello station.

The Manoppello – Scafa section will gain eight kilometres of new double tracks and adaptations to stations in Alanno and Scafa. On both sections, RFI plans to reconstruct roads and crossings to facilitate the upgrades.

Benefits for freight

According to RFI, the upgrades on the Rome – Pescara line will allow for the growth of freight traffic. Currently, travel times between Rome and Pescara are 3 hours and 20 minutes. Upon completion of all the planned works, trains will be able to cover the route in 2 hours, which is 80 minutes faster.

On the route between the Interporto D’Abruzzo hub and Scafa, train capacity will drastically increase. RFI says that four trains can currently pass the section on an hourly basis. After the upgrades, this number will increase to ten trains per hour.

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EasyRailFreight: RFI launches new MarketPlace for intermodality

Marco Raimondi — Thu, 11 Apr 2024 08:34:40 +0000

The Italian infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) launched EasyRailFreight, a new app that will bring logistics operators and their customers closer together. The former can use the app to offer their services, while the latter will be able to search for the most suitable offer through one single platform. This is the first time that such an initiative is carried out by a European infrastructure manager.
Currently, the rail freight operators that adhered to EasyRailFreight move about 50 per cent of the total traffic in Italy, a spokesperson from RFI told RailFreight.com. “We are in the process of acquiring commercial offers from further partners, both national and international”, they added. Other than rail freight operators, RFI is in talks with companies involved in forwarding, terminal operations, road freight services and port authorities.

The platform will focus on multimodal and intermodal traffic, both within and outside the Italian borders, the spokesperson said. It needs to be mentioned that the EasyRailFreight app is still in its initial stages. Currently only the “Service Showcase” component is ready, with five more modules to go. Once all these projects are implemented, the app will be available on the various app stores, the spokesperson explained.

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