The Ferrovie dello Stato Italian national railways group, is considering entering the German long-distance rail network with 50 high-speed trains.
“The project is at an exploratory stage”
Unveiling the new plans the group's managing director, Stefano Antonio Donnarumma, in an interview with the German daily Handelsblat, said that “the project is at an exploratory stage” for which routine contacts have been made with infrastructure managers and the relevant authorities.
Looking at Milan-Munich services by December 2026
The FS Group, already active in Germany in regional and freight transport in 14 German länder through its subsidiaries Netinera and TX Logistik, has among its objectives to offer cross-border services between Milan and Munich by December 2026, with the intention of extending them as far as Berlin. An important step which would lead to FS becoming the first company to compete on a large scale with Deutsche Bahn in the national high-speed train network.
“Certain rules are key to the game”
“We collaborate very well with Deutsche Bahn, sitting together at European tables on regulation and technology.” continued Donnarumma. Certain rules are key to the game, such as a system of staggered track access charges in which the less profitable sections are cheaper, as well as legislation to prevent “fare dumping and other distortions.”A European underground network
During the interview the CEO also spoke about another project under consideration: the creation of a high-speed rail network between European metropolises “In Italy we refer to it jokingly as the European metro. If we do enter the German high-speed market, we could propose ourselves as a leader in the realization of such a project. It could be financed with European funds and carried out through the commitment, technology, and expertise of several European companies.”
FS’s Trenitalia is in Spain and France with highspeed
A possible entry into the market would se the FS Group, which is ready to celebrate its 120th anniversary, expanding its presence in Europe. The Group, the CEO said, already operates highspeed Trenitalia services in Spain and France, and there are services between northern Italy with Switzerland, Germany and Austria. In Spain, with the Iryo consortium, FS operates 20 Frecciarossa 1000, carrying over 17.5 million passengers, while with Trenitalia France it has transported some three million people on the Milan-Paris service.
