Mercitalia Logistics, the rail freight branch of Italian state-owned Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) has improved its financial figures but volumes have decreased during the first half of the year. Investments in rail freight have also increased, but the sector keeps struggling amid lower demand and temporary capacity restrictions.
In terms of financial performance, the EBITDA more than doubled, from 19 to 40 million euros (+110%) and the EBIT significantly improved albeit remaining negative, from -40 to -29 million euros (+27.5%). Operating revenues for the Mercitalia Logistics group (now FS Logistix) also improved, from 665 to 711 million euros. The group’s international branch TX Logitstik and Mercitalia Shunting & Terminal led the growth with 15 million euros apiece.
On the other hand, the company’s performance when it comes to volumes was worse in the first half of 2025 than the same period last year. There was a 3.7% decrease in terms of tonnes/km, from 9,79 to 9,42 million. When it comes to trains/km, the decline was 4.2%, from 20,83 to 9,19 million. When it comes to international volumes, which make up about half of the total, the reduction was higher in terms of tonnes/km (-4.3%) than in trains/km (-3.6%).
136 million invested in locomotives
When it comes to the rail freight sector, 136 million euros were invested, mostly in locomotive renewal, which is 16 million more than H1 in 2024. More specifically, Mercitalia Shunting & Terminal received five units, Mercitalia Rail got six and 15 were given to TX Logistik. These 136 million euros equalled 1,6% of the total investment made by FS in the first half of 2025, which amounted to 8,5 billion euros. Most of these investments, over 65%, went to infrastructure projects.
Not a healthy market
Some interesting food for thought is that, despite losing volumes, the first half of the year saw Mercitalia increasing its modal share for the first time since its establishment in 2016. Losing volumes while gaining market share usually means that the industry is declining, as it was confirmed by the data for 2024 and by the many appeals made by industry associations. Traffic is moving back to the roads, which can provide cheaper transport options which are also more reliable given the massive number of projects to upgrade the infrastructure all across the country.