THE Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has announced that it will not open a preliminary investigation into the acquisition of Caserta-based rolling stock manufacturer Titagarh Firema by Italian State Railways (FS), enabling the transaction to proceed.
The principal shareholders in Titagarh Firema are Titagarh of India (60%) and Italy’s national investment and business development agency Invitalia (31%). The company experienced a liquidity crisis and sought protection from its creditors in May 2025, having generated revenue of €71.4m in Italy in the year to April 30 2024.
Acquisition by FS should ensure production and delivery of 70 sleeping cars for FS subsidiary Trenitalia. They were ordered for €138.6m in 2023 under a framework contract for up to 370 cars worth €732.5m that was awarded to a consortium of Škoda Group and Titagarh Firema.
In its ruling, AGCM says that Titagarh Firema has a marginal share of both the domestic mainline and urban rolling stock markets, which once under FS control would not distort competition. The authority says that there is no indication that the company is artificially increasing orders from Trenitalia or regional operators, and that the quantities in question remain small when compared with major orders awarded to international suppliers such as Alstom, CAF, Hitachi Rail, Siemens and Stadler, and are therefore not likely to alter the balance of the market.
In addition to the Trenitalia order, the acquisition of Titagarh Firema by FS could also help unblock the delivery of 38 six-car EMUs for the Rome - Lido di Ostia and Rome - Viterbo lines. The trains are being supplied under a €282m framework contract awarded by the Lazio region in 2022 that includes full-service maintenance over 10 years.
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