The parent company Ferrovie dello Stato SpA is 100% owned by the Italian Ministry of Economics and Finance, and controls the operating companies in the four industrial sectors: transport, infrastructure, real estate services and other services. All the companies nevertheless maintain their own company characteristics and are run autonomously in pursuing their respective business objectives.
Ferrovie dello Stato SpA, while leaving the autonomous legal responsibilities of the companies in which it holds shares unchanged, mainly carries out company type activity which is typical of a holding company (management of the subsidiaries, share ownership, etc..), as well as industrial type work. Through a system of Central Directorates, the parent company also sets strategic approaches and ensures the orientation and the coordination of the industrial policies of the operational companies.
Leader in passenger rail transport, with 88% market share, and freight, with 7%, the FS Italiane Group has about 74,200 employees, 8,000 trains running per day, more than 830 million passengers per year, and 50 million tonnes of goods per year. The railway network includes over 16,700 km of tracks, of which about 1,000 km are dedicated to high-speed services.
The FS Italiane Group aims to become the enterprise system that implements integrated and sustainable mobility and logistics services by exploiting synergistic transport infrastructures, thus creating value in Italy and abroad. In 2016, the FS Italiane Group confirmed its excellent performance, achieved over the past years, by reaching impressive financial results and profits of €772 million, never before achieved by the company.
On 1st December 2016, the CEO of the Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Renato Mazzoncini was unanimously elected as President of the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer (UIC), the association which represents the railway sector at a global level. The election recognises the commitment of the group in developing the railway sector and the ability to best represent its interests. It also means an important milestone for the Italian system, which will have the chance to influence the creation of transport policies at a global level, in one of the most strategic industries for investment and in terms of the impact it has on people and a country's economy. The UIC will also be called upon to play the vital role of consultant and advisor for the large investment programmes which are currently under way, or are scheduled for the next few years around the world: from the TEN-T European corridors (passengers and freight) to China, the US, India and Russia.
Another important stage in the renewal process has been the introduction of the new Busitalia Fast service, which was presented in April in Berlin on the occasion of the sector's international trade fair Bus2Bus 2017. It offers competitive transport services at a domestic and European level, with high levels of safety and innovation. Created with the aim of becoming the main European player in long-distance mobility by bus, the service runs daily service to 15 Italian regions and over 90 cities in Italy and Germany, with a fleet of 60 latest-generation buses.
And then during 2017, the FS Italiane group's rail freight transport and logistics services changed radically with the launch of the Polo Mercitalia, a single, large hub that brings together the group companies that operate in this area (Mercitalia Logistics, Mercitalia Rail, Gruppo TX Logistik, Mercitalia Intermodal, Mercitalia Transport & Services, Mercitalia Shunting & Terminal, TerAlp and TLF).
On 29 December 2017, Anas joined the FS Italiane Group, contributing to the establishment of the first integrated rail and road hub in Europe for serving residents and investing €108 billion over the next ten years.
However, the FS Group doesn't just limit itself to national borders. As the number one European railway company for profitability, the Company exports Made in Italy excellence for the development of railway networks all over the world: the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Latin America, USA, India, and Australia. The main services offered on the international market are engineering, and the management of passenger transportation and logistics, infrastructure, and stations.