Rail freight in Italy cannot seem to get out of the downward spiral it entered after the COVID-19 pandemic. The performance of the sector in 2025 was 3.5% worse than in 2024 in train-kilometre and 1.3% worse in tonne-kilometre, according to the annual report published by the country’s main industry association Fermerci.
Train-kilometre decreased from 51.2 to 41.4 million, while tonne-kilometre went from 22.9 to 22.7 billion. Data in tonne-kilometre painted a slightly less negative picture. The former have been decreasing since peaking at 53,8 in 2021, while the former have been stable since 2016 with minor spikes in 2021 and 2022.
Compared to train-kilometre, tonne-kilometre have been decreasing at a more contained rate, remaining somewhat stable over the past three years. “The increase in the average load per train could be attributed to a gradual refinement of the operational models adopted by rail operators, who in recent years have focused on more efficient and fuller trains”, Fermerci explained.
Geographic divide
The centre and south of Italy are still lagging behind, with 70% of rail freight volumes being handled in the north, the report highlighted. However, Sicily is the only region posting significantly positive figures, with a 56% increase in train-kilometre between 2018 and 2025 (from 220,000 to 350,000). During the same period, the northwest of Italy, which moves much higher volumes, has experienced a 13% decrease, as Paolo Guglielmetti from PwC pointed out at the presentation of the Fermerci report.
Transalpine traffic keeps dropping too
Despite the reopenings of key lines, namely the Frejus and Gotthard, between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, volumes across the Alps went from 23.1 to 21.9 billion tonne-kilometre (-5.2%), Guglielmetti continued. The Italy-Austria axis remained the main one and reached a 60% share of the total, while the share for the Italy-Switzerland one fell from 26% to 22%. Slovenia and France held 13% and 5% respectively.
‘No improvements until 2028’
The situation is not expected to improve over the next couple of years. “Based on the available information, an improvement in the management of disruption is not expected until 2028”, the Fermerci report stressed. For example, there will be almost 800 planned interventions throughout the Italian railway network in 2026. The scenario will slightly improve the following year, but it will still be far from an ideal one.