The strategies of state railways illustrated by Adnarumma at the Fit-CISL Conference
The future of mobility involves integration between rail transport and airplane. This is the view of the FS group, reiterated by CEO Stefano Antonio Donnarumma during the “Air and Rail Transportation Conference, strategies for an integrated system”, organized by Fit-CISL. A central theme in the 2025-2029 Strategic Plan, which focuses on intermodality and sustainability to improve travel experience and reduce environmental impact.
«Looking at the numbers, I don’t see the competition between trains and airplanes. FS is a company that represents the country with 97,000 employees, this year, 17 billion euros have been invested and we run about 10,000 trains per day, most of the time regional, “said FS Stefano Group CEO Antonio Donnarumma during the Fit – CISL” air transport and Railway Conference:
Towards sustainable and integrated mobility
The integration between railways and aviation is a pillar of mobility and will allow passengers to travel more fluently and efficiently, limiting the use of private cars and breaking CO2 emissions. Today, in Italy, 26 airports are already connected to the rail network with direct trains or multimodal solutions, such as Airlink and the people who move. Among the successful examples, Leonardo Express, which every day guarantees 126 connections between Roma Terminini and Fiumicino airport, carrying up to 350,000 passengers per month.
FS Group projects to connect the Aircraft train
But fs looks beyond. There are numerous projects to strengthen the aeronaves train connections and make airports increasingly accessible on iron. The Bergamo station will be connected to Orio Al Serio airport by the end of 2026, with a travel time of just ten minutes. The airport airport is five kilometers from downtown Bergamo and, respectively, 53 and 52 kilometers from the capitals of Milan and Brescia. Currently, it can only be achieved through the road network and is estimated that, with the activation of the connection with the station, the medium movements made by train, from and to the airport, will reach the figure of more than 13 thousand per day (equal to about ten thousand avoided car movements).
A new rail section will join the Venice-Treste line to Marco Polo airport. The intervention provides for the creation of a path of about eight kilometers to be developed through a “antenna” connection that will be parallel to the A27 highway with an open double lane section and will continue in the tunnel to cross the airport area.
In Sardinia, a new rail connection will be activated, which will combine the Costa Smeralda de Olbia airport with the railway infrastructure. The intervention provides for the creation of a new railway with a simple extension rail of 3.4 kilometers from the historical line of the Aranci-Macomer Gulf with a crossroads about a kilometer from New Olbia Terranova railway station.
The construction of the new “Vincenzo Florio Airport” stopped between the current stations of Marausa and Mozia-Birgi is expected, creating a point of exchange along the one-track railway in the Palermo-Trapani line via Castelvetrano.
The intervention consists of the creation of a new eight kilometers dedicated between the Brindisi Central Station and the Salento Airport, which branches the BRINDISI – Bari/Taranto railway line.
Strategic Partnerships for Trem-Aircraft Integration
Integration between different means of transport also goes through synergies with airspace. The FS group started collaborations with airports from Rome, Ita Airways and Lufthansa to develop combined travel products, allowing passengers to buy exclusive tickets to travel by train and plane without continuity.
A strategy that extends beyond national borders: through Iyo, the company participated in Trenitalia operating in Spain, FS offers combined trips of “train + plane” between Italy and Spain. Ita Airways customers can arrive in the city as Valencia, Malaga and Seville in Frecciarossa, while Iyo passengers can fly toward more than 20 Italian airports.
Air and rail transport conference: strategies for an integrated and competitive system
Ita Airways CEO Joerg Eberhart, who said: “I like the integration of the word, also present at the conference. Intermodality already works. They are customers who decide the competition, if any, between train and plane, referring to the Rome-Milan section.
CISL Secretary General Daniela Fumarola concluded: “Bets are huge: on the table there are still the resources of the PNRR, the investment plans of several years presented by the companies, from FS and ADR, the opportunities derived from the entry of ITA in a large group like Luftansa.”
Source: IL Tempo
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
