After over 17 years of being unused, there is real hope for the reopening of the Surbo railway terminal in southern Italy, as at least one offer was submitted for its acquisition after the past two calls went unanswered. The confirmed bid comes from the same company that tried to buy the site in 2021, called Surbo Terminal and created specifically for this purpose.
Surbo Terminal was formed by FHP Intermodal, which specialises in bulk and project cargo logistics. Other entities participating in the company are local players, including Gda Group, Carluccio Trasporti and Trasporti Primiceri, who managed the terminal until its complete abandonment in 2011.
In reality, however, the terminal has been nonoperational since 2009. Attempts at reopening it have been made since 2014, but the first two calls for offers went deserted. Surbo Terminal was formed in 2021 to present an offer in the same year, but ended up not submitting any due to lack of public support. Things changed in 2023, when the Italian government allocated 10 million euros to restore the facility.
€1.35M starting price
The Surbo rail terminal is being sold by FS Sistemi Urbani, the rail estate branch of the Italian railway holding Ferrovie dello Stato. The starting price was set at €1.35 million, but the offer made by Surbo Terminal has not yet been disclosed. Other offers may also have been submitted, as FS Sistemi Urbani said it would not disclose information until the deal is done.
The site covers 85,000 square metres, almost twice the size of the Bari Ferruccio terminal (50,000 sqm) currently handling freight trains in the area. Surbo is equipped with 12 tracks and can be connected to the Bari-Lecce main line along the TEN-T Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor.
The new push for a reopening comes from a recent study highlighting rising demand for rail freight services in the Lecce region. The study claimed that there is enough interest to possibly fill up 70 trains each month. However, a decision on the sale is not expected soon. FS Sistemi Urbani said that the selection process could take up to six months, plus six more to prepare the site to restart operations.
FHP Group
FHP Intermodal is part FHP Group, which also owns Compagnia Ferroviaria Italiana and is owned by Italy’s largest independent infrastructure fund manager F2i. Fhp Intermodal already manages four intermodal terminals in Italy. One is in Incoronata, in the Apulia region just like Surbo, one is in Piedimonte San Germano, between Naples and Rome, one in Forlì, near the port of Ravenna and one in Fiorenzuola d’Arda, south of Milan. FHP Group, on the other hand, manages nine port terminals in the ports of Livorno, Carrara, Monfalcone, Marghera and Chioggia.