The Italian company Gts has announced an upgrade of its Bari–Verona and Piacenza–Nola rail services, with an increase in frequencies that will result in the movement of more than one million tonnes of freight by rail. The intermodal operator owned by the Muciaccia family is thus strengthening its network along the north–south axis, consolidating the transfer of logistics flows from road to rail.
On the Bari–Verona route, weekly round trips will increase from three to six by the beginning of the new year. The service will allow the movement of 360 containers per week, with departures from the Bari Ferruccio intermodal terminal and arrivals at the Terminal Italia facility in Verona’s Quadrante Europa. From there, trains will continue through the Brenner corridor towards Germany and eastern European countries, reinforcing integration between southern Italy and the main continental markets. According to figures released by the company, the increase in frequencies will remove more than 18,000 heavy goods vehicles a year from the Adriatic corridor, with direct effects on traffic reduction and freight-related emissions.
The Piacenza–Nola service is also being further developed and will become daily, with departures operating seven days a week, including Sundays. Flows to and from Campania will reach 420 containers per week, equivalent to more than 21,000 shipments a year. The higher volumes will make it possible to remove more than 400 lorries a week from the Milan–Rome motorway corridor. From the Piacenza hub, goods will continue on to Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Poland, strengthening the role of the Emilia-based platform as a connection point between domestic and international traffic.
The operation forms part of the Group’s broader growth strategy. As highlighted by commercial director Fabio Piliego, despite the high number of worksites currently active on the Italian and European rail networks – projects intended to structurally enhance rail transport – Gts continues to expand its intermodal network.
From January 2026, the Group expects to reach 120 trains per week, more than 80 of which will be dedicated daily to connections between southern and northern Italy, alongside spot services designed to respond to exceptional market needs. This positioning makes Gts the leading national operator by frequency and number of intermodal trains along the north–south axis, according to the company.
A central role is played by Gts Rail, the Group company responsible for rail traction. Thanks to safety certifications obtained for Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands, and the purchase of new rolling stock authorised to operate on different international rail networks, the Group aims to reduce transit times and increase the reliability of cross-border services. The extension of operations across multiple European corridors strengthens the competitiveness of the intermodal offer, at a time of growing attention to transport sustainability.
The goods transported on the new and upgraded services will cover a range of industrial sectors. On the export side, the main flows will be linked to agri-food products and packaging, sectors in which southern Italy accounts for a significant share of national output. For imports, trains will carry raw materials for the food industry, machinery and solar panels, confirming the diversification of traffic and the role of rail intermodality as supporting infrastructure for production supply chains.
