By 2030, Italy will have implemented one of the most ambitious railway investment programs in Europe—the Strategic Plan 2025–2029, which aims to profoundly transform the national transport network. The priorities are to modernize existing infrastructure, expand high-speed lines, digitize signaling systems, and increase regional and metropolitan transport capacity.
The investments, supported by both national and European funds, including through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), aim to implement ERTMS technologies on a large scale, increase traffic safety and reliability, and reduce environmental impact. At the same time, Italy is investing heavily in new, more energy-efficient and low-emission rolling stock, strengthening the role of rail as a central pillar of sustainable mobility and economic connectivity by the end of the decade.
The policy guiding the FS Italiane Group is outlined in its 2025–2029 Strategic Plan, which provides for 100 billion EUR in investments to modernize infrastructure, expand the high-speed network, improve punctuality, and digitize operations. Through the projects implemented, the company also wants to increase its international activity by attracting passengers to increase their number by 40% and hire 20,000 new employees by the end of 2029.
Infrastructure requires a large part of the investment
In December, Stefano Antonio Donnarumma, CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS Italiane), announced that in 2025 (the first year of the 2025–2029 Strategic Plan), EUR 18 billion – an ‘unprecedented’ investment figure – allocated through the PNRR, of which approximately EUR 7 billion is dedicated to implementation through the PNRR in 2024 – with projects continuing this year.
While in the PNRR phase investments in railway infrastructure have an annual average of 10 billion EUR, after the PNRR they will need to increase to 12 billion EUR per year, as a total investment of 31.5 billion EUR is required.
The main projects are:
- Palermo – Messina – Catania (which will require 9.5 billion EUR);
- Salerno – Reggio Calabria (9.4 billion EUR);
- Naples – Bari (2.8 billion EUR);
- East-west axis Padano–Milan–Trieste route (4.4 billion EUR);
- Liguria – Alps (EUR 3.8 billion; the project aims to create and modernize a high-capacity, high-speed line connecting the ports of Liguria, particularly Genoa, with the main network in northern Italy and, further afield, with Europe);
- Brenner Base Tunnel (known as Brenner Base Tunnel), which will require a sum of 1.6 billion EUR.
Renewed rolling stock
By 2034, FS will have 46 new Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed trains, four of which were delivered this year. The trains are capable of traveling at 300 km/h and are designed for a maximum speed of 360 km/h.
This year, Italy also received 183 new regional trains, with 105 units delivered. By 2027, FS will increase the number of new-generation trains by 1,061 for regional and commuter transport. By August, thanks to service contracts with regions and autonomous provinces, 596 new-generation trains had been put into service, which, together with the 335 previously purchased, brings the total number of new trains to 931. Continued deliveries throughout this year and those planned until 2027 will enable the renewal of 80% of the regional rolling stock fleet, in an investment program estimated at 7 billion EUR.
Also in 2025, the company managed to return 35,000 trains in all segments to normal service, with a 3% increase in the punctuality of high-speed trains. FS Italiane carried 577 million passengers nationally (up 1%) and 253 million passengers internationally, up 15% compared to the previous year.
All these figures indicate that FS Italiane is on track to achieve its targets for 2034 and beyond, with investments estimated at over 177 billion EUR.
Special program for digitization
Alongside its strategy, the FS Group has also launched its Technological Plan, through which it has committed to investing over 20 billion EUR over the next decade. This is FS Italiane’s first plan of this magnitude, laying the foundations for innovation and technology projects, seen as the main components of the ongoing transformation of mobility. One of the plan’s key projects is the implementation of ERTMS at the rail level and on board trains. In this case, FS will install ERTMS on 382 Trenitalia trains and 60 locomotives operated by FS Logistix, and by 2030 the projects will be implemented to install the digital system on 2,000 trains, and by 2033 all FS Logistix rolling stock will be equipped with the new technology.
As part of this plan, FS Italiane will also digitize predictive maintenance systems and the construction of infrastructure dedicated to rail connectivity. To this end, a pilot project has been completed on the section between Turin and Greggio, located on the Turin-Milan high-speed line, which involved the installation of equipment over 60 km and 41 active sites. The project received EUR 200 million in funding to provide a basis for more accurate network monitoring and to offer passengers a more modern, stable, and fluid on-board experience.
Other dimensions of the strategy
This strategy is not only aimed at the domestic market, but also at international expansion, where the FS Group is constantly strengthening its position. In addition to its intention to enter the German high-speed train market, the company is considering launching services on the important Paris-Brussels European corridor, as well as on the London-Paris route, and is analyzing opportunities in the US rail market, considered one of the regions with the highest potential for public transport development globally.
The success of 2025 is part of the FS Group’s 2025–2029 Strategic Plan, which aims to reshape the transport system and steer it towards rail, with modal shift being the FS Group’s primary objective due to its ability to decarbonize the transport sector and support sustainable mobility, which in turn is supported by an industry committed to transforming the railways.
In the FS Group’s vision, human resources are the key element in the industrial transformation process. To this end, the company has launched the FS School, the group’s first corporate academy, structured into ten faculties dedicated to the development of technical, digital, and managerial skills. The initiative is complemented by the renewal of the national Collective Labor Agreement, which has strengthened social protection mechanisms and confirmed the strategic importance of employees in the evolution and modernization of the FS Group.
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