| Type | Società per Azioni (joint-stock company) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Rail transport |
| Founded | 21 April 1905 |
| Headquarters | Rome, Italy |
| Key people | Lamberto Cardia, President Mauro Moretti, CEO[1] |
| Products | Passenger and freight rail transport, rail infrastructure management, financial services |
| Revenue | €8.06 billion (2010)[1] |
| Net income | €129 million (2010)[1] |
| Employees | 82,566 (2010 average) [1] |
| Subsidiaries | Trenitalia, RFI, Italferr, Ferservizi, FS Logistica, FS Sistemi Urbani, BUSITALIA Sita Nord, Fercredit, Grandi Stazioni (59.99%), Centostazioni (59.99%) |
| Website | FerrovieDelloStato.it |
Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) is a government-owned holding that manages infrastructure and services on the Italian rail network. The subsidiary Trenitalia is the main rail operator in Italy.
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Ferrovie dello Stato subsidiaries are:[2]
Ferrovie dello Stato (National Railway) were instituted by an act on 22 April 1905, taking control over the majority of the national railways, private until then. The president was nominated by the government.
With the rise of the fascism a centralization policy was carried out. The board of directors and chief administrator office were abolished at the end of 1922. The institution was administered by a commissioner appointed by the King until April 1924. Since then, Ferrovie dello Stato was managed by the newly born Ministry of Communications (including rail transport), under Costanzo Ciano. After the armistice, on 8 September 1943, Italy was divided and train operations were separately directed too, with headquarters in Salerno for the south and Verona for the north.
At the end of 1944 the Ministry of Communications was split and the new Ministry of Transport was created, including the General management of Ferrovie dello Stato, and in 1945 the company was renamed Azienda Autonoma delle Ferrovie dello Stato.
The period after the Second World War was particularly tough for Ferrovie dello Stato, since most of the Italian rail network was severely damaged and the rolling stock was obsolete. The network was rebuilt almost entirely by 1952. Since then, a period of renewal started. New trains were introduced, among them the ETR 300, and many sections of the national network were electrified and sometimes doubled.
In 1957 the new FS ALn 442 multiple unit was introduced, greatly reducing travel time on the Italian network. During these years the rolling stock was generally renewed and expanded with the mass construction of electrical and diesel multiple units, like the FS ALe 883, FS ALe 840 and FS ALn 772.
However, the real revolution was the introduction in 1956 of the new FS ALn 668 diesel multiple unit. In the following years, 3 MU out of 4 were 668, which replaced many older units. Many electrical locomotives were also introduced during this period, like the FS ALe 601, progenitor of the 801 and 803 EMU, still in use today on regional service.
During 1970s electronic cars were first introduced on the Italian network, starting with the G.A.I. trains for regional and metropolitan service. The new E.444 was the first attempt on high-speed rail, with top speed of 200 km/h (120 mph). The ETR 401 (1976) was the first prototype of the new Pendolino class. Following other network improvements, works for the first Italian High-speed rail line started in these years. The line, the Direttissima from Florence to Rome, was partially opened in 1986 and concluded in 1992. In 1986 trains were travelling the line at 200 km/h (120 mph), surpassing for the first time the previous maximum limit of 180 km/h on the Italian network. In 1988 the ETR 450 Pendolino were travelling regularly at 250 km/h (160 mph), today's top speed on the line. The line was the fastest in Europe after French TGV lines.
The old logo was renewed in 1982 and again in 1994, with the introduction of the XMPR[3] livery.
The FS was left unchanged in its administrative structure until the end of 1985. From the following year, after 80 years, the Azienda Autonoma delle Ferrovie dello Stato was replaced by a new company, Ferrovie dello Stato.[4]
The newly born Ferrovie dello Stato underwent major structural transformations between 1986 and 1992. Workforce was reduced to half: from 216,310 employees in 1988 to 112,018 in 1999.[5] Divisions were created to rationalize the management. The company was denationalized in 1992 with the creation of the new Ferrovie dello Stato SpA, a join stock company, following an European guideline. However, the privatization was only formal, since shares were still owned by the Italian Government.[6]
Only on 1 June 2000 the two main divisions, service and infrastructure, were separated and two different independent companies were created: Trenitalia, responsible for transport service, and Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, responsible for the management of the rail infrastructure. Both companies were still subsidiaries of Ferrovie dello Stato Holding SpA.[7]
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