IN a fundamental shake-up of the country’s rolling stock market, the Italian government has announced plans to create a state-owned rolling stock leasing company that will hold €1.2bn of assets available for use by any operator.
Enabling legislation is expected to enter into force later this month, providing the legal foundation for the final and most decisive phase of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), agreed with the European Commission (EC).
Establishing the leasing company is part of a broader liberalisation process of the Italian rail sector,. The new entity will procure and manage a fleet of different types of trains and make them available to the market, particularly for public service obligation (PSO) passenger services. The initial capitalisation of the leasing company will amount to €1.2bn, funded by the PNRR.
Part of this funding had originally been allocated to Trenitalia, the passenger operating subsidiary of Italian State Railways (FS), but submission deadlines were missed. The Italian government, led by transport and infrastructure minister, Matteo Salvini, and minister for European affairs and the PNRR, Tommaso Foti, is now seeking to keep hold of the EU funding by reallocating it to rolling stock investment via the new leasing company.
New trains
The new company will be governed by a five-member board of directors, jointly appointed by the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It will own rolling stock already ordered by Trenitalia and financed through PNNR. In addition, the new company is expected to place further orders for new trains. The purchase of approximately 100 new trains, with a total value of around €1bn, is planned ahead of the next statutory deadline for subsidy applications related to rolling stock orders.
FS is reportedly unhappy with the proposed arrangements and strongly opposes transferring ownership of its existing rolling stock to the new leasing company. However, the government points out that competing bidders will be able to access rolling stock more easily, removing a major barrier to market entry.
Initial effects of the legislation might be visible as early as the middle of this year, when several regional PSO tenders are expected to be launched in a market that has so far been largely dominated by Trenitalia. Despite the establishment of the new leasing company, Trenitalia will continue to be obliged to lease rolling stock to third parties.
Infrastructure investment
The government has agreed a €120bn infrastructure investment programme for the period 2027–2030, and the role of infrastructure manager and FS subsidiary Italian Rail Network (RFI) will remain unchanged.
While projects will be state-funded, governance conditions similar to those under PNRR will apply, particularly with regard to project management, delivery schedules, and enforcement mechanisms, including penalties for missing deadlines. The national transport regulator, ART, will oversee implementation of the investment programme.
