Luigi Ferraris, CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), has called for greater integration of Europe’s rail system, advocating a single high-speed network with common standards. Speaking at Bocconi University, he highlighted the environmental benefits of trains and gave an insight into the Gigabit Rail&Road project to extend internet fibre and 5G coverage along railway lines
Greater integration. Discussing the state of the rail system in Europe, Luigi Ferraris, CEO of Ferrovie dell Stato, the Italian state-owned rail operator, called for creating a level playing field at the EU level. According to Ferraris, Europe must develop an integrated high-speed rail network with common standards and simplified rules.
- In Europe today, there are high-speed networks in Spain, France, Italy, and Germany, but they have yet to be built in Eastern Europe.
- Having already connected Paris to Milan and entered the Spanish market with Frecciarossa trains linking the most significant cities, the group aims to operate a service between Paris and Barcelona.
The cornerstone of the green strategy. Group CEO Ferraris pointed out that trains are one of the most advanced green solutions that can reduce motorway congestion and improve goods transport.
- He called for an intermodal approach to logistics, “with the long distances of goods transport being covered by rail and the first and last mile on the road”.
- To achieve this, he said, “we need increasingly interconnected ports and integrated multimedia terminals, in which Ferrovie dello Stato is investing heavily”.
- FS’s industrial plan foresees investments of 3 billion euros in train renovation and terminal modernisation.
What about digital infrastructure and AI? Luigi Ferraris presented FS’s Gigabit Rail&Road project, which aims to integrate internet fibre along railway lines to extend the 5G signal to the entire national system.
- In this context, the strategy explained is to see FS connect with fibre “the 2,200 stations managed by FS throughout the country, to bring benefits also to the surrounding areas”.
- Another key expectation discussed is the use of AI “as a powerful tool for data collection and analysis and monitoring infrastructures and their increasingly precise and effective maintenance,” as remarketed by the CEO of the Group.
