International Railway Journal - May 2008 - (Page 23) Italy Italian Railways on the rocky road to recovery Italian Railways is well on the way to recovery thanks to the efforts of its new management team following a disastrous period when losses topped €2 billion. The main uncertainty now, is the attitude of the newly-elected government to rail transport, reports David Briginshaw from Rome. I TALIAN Railways (FS) achieved a remarkable turn round last year by cutting its huge loss of ƒ2.12 billion in 2006 to ƒ420 million. As Mr Mauro Moretti, CEO of FS, pointed out recently: “a reduction of ƒ1.7 billion in a year is not small.” According to Mr Vincenzo Soprano, CEO of Trenitalia (the train operating subsidiary of FS), the 2007 result was a bit better than forecast. “We had a very critical situation in 2006,” Soprano explains. “All our business units, especially freight, were losing money, revenue was down and costs were too high.” The resulting loss was more than four times the loss of ƒ465 million in 2005. At the same time, FS faced stiffening competition from the increasing number of open-access and independent freight operators. FS managers must be wondering how the railway will fare under the newlyelected government of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. His previous five-year stint in government, which ended in 2006, was not good for FS. Longdistance passenger fares were frozen by the government from 2001 to 2007, while the former FS management failed to increase freight rates and keep costs under control. “We had a huge problem with our relationship with the government, so New management lineup (left to right): Mr Mauro Moretti, CEO of FS, Mr Vincenzo Soprano, CEO of Trenitalia, and Mr Michele Mario Elia, CEO of RFI.
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of International Railway Journal - May 2008 International Railway Journal - May 2008 Contents This Month News Transit News Market News Technology News News Analysis Italian Railways on the Road to Recovery High-Speed: On the Home Straight Korea Develops High-Speed Ambitions Setting New Standards for New Rolling Stock India Solves Traction Motor Conundrum Weathering the Storm with Climatic Testing Technology Drives US Train Inspections Rendezvous Full Contact List Advertisers Index The Last Word International Railway Journal - May 2008 International Railway Journal - May 2008 - International Railway Journal - May 2008 (Page Cover1) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - International Railway Journal - May 2008 (Page Cover2) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Contents (Page 1) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - This Month (Page 2) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - This Month (Page 3) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News (Page 4) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News (Page 5) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News (Page 6) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News (Page 7) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News (Page 8) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News (Page 9) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News (Page 10) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News (Page 11) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News (Page 12) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News (Page 13) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Transit News (Page 14) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Transit News (Page 15) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Transit News (Page 16) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Transit News (Page 17) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Technology News (Page 18) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Technology News (Page 19) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News Analysis (Page 20) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News Analysis (Page 21) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - News Analysis (Page 22) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Italian Railways on the Road to Recovery (Page 23) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Italian Railways on the Road to Recovery (Page 24) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Italian Railways on the Road to Recovery (Page 25) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Italian Railways on the Road to Recovery (Page 26) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Italian Railways on the Road to Recovery (Page 27) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - High-Speed: On the Home Straight (Page 28) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - High-Speed: On the Home Straight (Page 29) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - High-Speed: On the Home Straight (Page 30) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - High-Speed: On the Home Straight (Page 31) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - High-Speed: On the Home Straight (Page 32) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - High-Speed: On the Home Straight (Page 33) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - High-Speed: On the Home Straight (Page 34) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Korea Develops High-Speed Ambitions (Page 35) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Korea Develops High-Speed Ambitions (Page 36) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Korea Develops High-Speed Ambitions (Page 37) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Korea Develops High-Speed Ambitions (Page 38) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Setting New Standards for New Rolling Stock (Page 39) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Setting New Standards for New Rolling Stock (Page 40) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Setting New Standards for New Rolling Stock (Page 41) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Setting New Standards for New Rolling Stock (Page 42) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - India Solves Traction Motor Conundrum (Page 42A) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - India Solves Traction Motor Conundrum (Page 42B) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Weathering the Storm with Climatic Testing (Page 43) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Weathering the Storm with Climatic Testing (Page 44) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Weathering the Storm with Climatic Testing (Page 45) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Weathering the Storm with Climatic Testing (Page 46) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Weathering the Storm with Climatic Testing (Page 46A) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Weathering the Storm with Climatic Testing (Page 46B) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Technology Drives US Train Inspections (Page 47) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Technology Drives US Train Inspections (Page 48) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Technology Drives US Train Inspections (Page 49) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Technology Drives US Train Inspections (Page 50) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Technology Drives US Train Inspections (Page 51) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Technology Drives US Train Inspections (Page 52) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Technology Drives US Train Inspections (Page 53) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Rendezvous (Page 54) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - Advertisers Index (Page 55) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - The Last Word (Page 56) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - The Last Word (Page Cover3) International Railway Journal - May 2008 - The Last Word (Page Cover4)
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