For the first time since its establishment in 2016, Italian state-owned operator Mercitalia Rail has gained some market share. The step was not massive, from 38% at the end of 2024 to 38.8% after the first half of this year, but it is a first for the company and a very peculiar occurrence in the current European landscape.
TX Logistik, the international branch of the state-owned FS Group has also increased its market share from 2% to 2.7%. Private operator GTS Rail also saw some growth, from 6% to 7.3%. On the other hand, Captrain Italia and Compagnia Ferroviaria Italiana both lost some traffic, respectively going from 9% to 7.4% and from 13% to 10.7%.
Cross-border traffic
The data provided by the country’s infrastructure manager also included cross-border traffic in 2024. The borders with Austria and Switzerland were by far the most important, especially since the main connection to France saw no traffic at all for the whole year. The two lines leading into Austria (Brenner and Tarvisio) saw 43% of total traffic going through them. Another 44% went through the three border crossings with Switzerland: Chiasso (19%), Domodossola/Domo II (15%) and Luino (10%). The Villa Opicina border crossing to Slovenia accounted for 11%.
The situation was much more dire for France due to the closure of the Frejus railway from August 2023 to April 2025. This closure meant that only 900 out of the 6,000 yearly trains meant for this line were re-routed via Ventimiglia in 2024. Usually, the Frejus border crossing via Modane accounts for around 6% of the total. Its closure caused a massive reverse modal shift to the road and the interruption of the rail highway service between the two countries due to subsidy cuts from both governments.
The rise of private operators
The growth in market share of a state-owned operator is somewhat of a unique circumstance in the current market. State-owned companies are losing ground to private operators in many countries, including Spain, France and Poland. Even giants such as German DB Cargo or Swiss SBB Cargo are facing significant difficulties which might lead to losses in traffic and jobs. More and more private entities have entered the market and, over the past couple of years, have taken a significant slice of the pie.