TRENITALIA confirmed on August 10 that it is pulling out of the competition to operate Britain’s South Eastern franchise as it focusses resources on developing its British rail portfolio in other areas.

THE president of the Italian region of Sardinia Mr Francesco Pigliaru and Trenitalia managing director Mrs Barbara Morgante signed a nine-year contract in Cagliari on July 26 for the operation of passenger services on the island’s standard-gauge network.

ITALIAN State Railways (FS) says traffic rose by 3% to 24 million journeys during the first half of 2017 on its 250 daily Frecce-branded services operated by Trenitalia comprising Frecciarossa and Frecciargento high-speed trains and Frecciabianca long-distance services.

THE last of 706 Vivalto double-deck coaches being built for Trenitalia under a framework contract awarded in 2010 to the former AnsaldoBreda left the Hitachi Rail Italy factory in Reggio Calabria on July 11.

BRITAIN’s Department for Transport (DfT) has released the shortlist of bidders for the West Coast Partnership (WCP) franchise, which will operate inter-city services on the West Coast Main Line from April 2019 and design and run initial High Speed 2 (HS2) services between London and Birmingham from 2026.

TRENITALIA launched its summer timetable on June 11 with Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed trains operating in multiple for the first time.

THE prime minister of Italy Mr Paulo Gentiloni travelled to Campania on a Trenitalia Frecciarossa 1000 high-speed train on June 6 to inaugurate the first phase of Naples Afragola station.

ITALY’s national operator Trenitalia has launched a tender for a €1.6bn framework contract to supply up to 135 diesel-electric passenger trains and to maintain them for 15 years.

BRITAIN’s Department for Transport (DfT) announced on March 1 that it has shortlisted three bidders for a contract to operate the East Midlands franchise from next year.

TRENITALIA and First Group have joined forces to bid for two British passenger rail franchises - East Midlands and West Coast Partnership - which are due to be awarded in 2018.