On 11 December 2025, FS management outlined the results of the first year of the Group’s Strategic Plan for the 2025–2029 period, which also highlights the development of logistics activities. In 2025 the Group made investments totalling €18 billion, part of a trajectory that foresees a further €177 billion by 2034, with a growing role assigned to the development of European corridors and strategic logistics hubs. Of this amount, €7 billion was allocated to the progress of projects financed under Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Within the new industrial set-up, FS Logistix represents the cornerstone of the Group’s cargo strategy. The logistics division is pursuing a transition towards a European freight forwarder model, based on rail-road-sea modal integration, corporate rationalisation and the modernisation of the terminal network. In 2025 the Group also strengthened its international presence through the expansion of activities at logistics terminals, including Antwerp in Belgium, regarded as a key hub for freight flows between the Mediterranean and Northern Europe.
This path has been accompanied by the strengthening of rail infrastructure. According to FS, greater operational discipline and more rigorous planning of worksites have also produced effects on traffic regularity, with more than 35,000 trains brought back on time in 2025 across all service segments. Although this figure mainly refers to passenger transport, the Group points to improved network reliability as an enabling condition for the development of freight traffic as well, particularly along the most saturated corridors.
The technology plan, worth more than €20 billion by 2034, also acts as a direct lever for rail logistics. The rollout of ERTMS, network digitalisation and the introduction of predictive maintenance systems are aimed at increasing capacity, safety and operational continuity, all decisive factors for the competitiveness of rail freight compared with road transport. This framework also includes the creation of the national rail connectivity infrastructure, with the completion in 2025 of the pilot Turin–Greggio section, allowing more precise network control and opening the way to new digital services for operators and customers.
Another structural element concerns energy. With the launch of FS Energy, the Group has initiated centralised management of energy procurement, contracting 275 GWh per year from renewable sources. The aim is to cover 19% of the Group’s energy consumption by 2029 and 40% by 2034, reducing exposure to market volatility and contributing to the decarbonisation of transport, a particularly relevant issue for the logistics chain.
Among the strategic acceleration levers of the Plan, potential recourse to a regulatory model based on the Regulated Asset Base is also significant. According to FS, this instrument would be crucial to ensuring stability and continuity of infrastructure investments in the post-PNRR phase, maintaining annual spending capacity at around €12 billion. This level is considered necessary to complete major rail corridors, strengthen the regional network and support the development of freight traffic, with an estimated impact of around €18 billion on GDP and an associated 120,000 jobs.
On the international front, 2025 saw the consolidation of foreign activities through FS International, which coordinates the Group’s holdings across different European markets under a unified approach. This reorganisation also supports the expansion of cross-border logistics, facilitating the integration of freight services along the main European axes and strengthening the Group’s presence in regulated markets. At the same time, the Group has extended its vertical integration, entering new segments of the logistics and freight transport value chain with the aim of increasing resilience and industrial autonomy.
Overall, the first year of the Strategic Plan points to a structural strengthening of the FS Group’s role within the national and European logistics system. The combination of infrastructure investment, industrial reorganisation, technological innovation and international expansion of the freight segment represents one of the main pillars of the strategy outlined to 2029, in a context in which the efficiency of rail logistics is identified as a key factor for the competitiveness of Italy’s productive system.
Antonio Illariuzzi
