{"id":578017,"date":"2026-10-15T19:04:49","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T09:04:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=75090"},"modified":"2026-10-15T19:04:49","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T09:04:49","slug":"italy-lost-55000-freight-trains-since-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=578017","title":{"rendered":"Italy \u2018lost\u2019 55,000 freight trains since 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

The number of trains handled in Italy dropped 14.4% from 384,863 in 2021 to 329,388 in 2025, according to a report from the country\u2019s industry association Fermerci. The document also highlighted an astounding difference between the north and the south of Italy and the financial difficulties of the sector.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>On a yearly basis, the number of freight trains in Italy dropped 4.5% between 2024 and 2025. The decreasing trend affected all kinds of facilities. Terminals, which handle the majority of the traffic, lost more than 7,000 trains (-6.3%), private sidings lost more than 4,000 (-6.7%). The facilities classified as \u2018Interporto\u2019 (-1.8%) and ports connected to the railway (-2.8%) also handled fewer trains.<\/p>\n

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The number of trains handled in the different logistics facilities in Italy between 2024 and 2025. Image: \u00a9 RailFreight.com based on Fermerci data<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

North-south divide<\/h2>\n

Fermerci\u2019s Last Mile Paper, based on data from the Italian infrastructure manager RFI, also underlined the disparity between northern and southern Italy. \u201cThe north accounts for about 85% of trains and about 72% of facilities, while the south and the islands account for a smaller share of traffic and infrastructure\u201d, the association said.<\/p>\n

The first three regions for the number of trains handled are Lombardia, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Veneto, all in the north. However, when looking at the number of trains per facility, the leader is Calabria, the southernmost region on the Italian mainland, with over 2,200. Sicily also has a good train-per-facility rate, but the two regions move only about 10% and 5% of the convoys handled in Lombardia.<\/p>\n