The past couple of years have not been positive for rail freight in Italy, but there are a few examples of happy endings. Take the Nola Intermodal Terminal, 30 kilometres from Naples. Its former rail operator went bankrupt in 2023, but in two years things went back on track and the terminal closed 2025 with over 2,000 trains moved, 50% more than the previous year.
“Further growth is expected for 2026, with over 3,000 trains per year and approximately 100,000 UTIs handled overall at the interport terminal”, the terminal said in a statement. In comparison, the largest port terminals (e.g.: Trieste, La Spezia, Ravenna and Genoa Voltri) in Italy handled between 4,000 and 7,000 trains in 2025.
Like a phoenix
The recent story of the Nola Intermodal Terminal saw its rail operator, Interporto Servizi Cargo (ISC), closing down shop at the beginning of 2023. Then came GTS Rail, an operator that was already active in the terminal. In January 2023, the GTS doubled its rail connections to Segrate (Milan). After these two transitional years, volumes are back at 2021 levels, when ISC moved around 2,100 trains.
European Cargo Experience
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