High-speed rail in Italy consists of two lines connecting most of the country's major cities. The first line connects Turin to Salerno via Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples, the second runs from Turin to Venice via Milan and Verona, and is under construction in parts. Trains are operated with a top speed of .
Passenger service is provided by Trenitalia and, since April 2012, by Italo (NTV), the world's first private open-access operator of high-speed rail to compete with a state-owned monopoly. 25 million passengers traveled on the network in 2011. In 2015, ridership increased to 55 million for Trenitalia and 9.1 million for NTV, for a combined 64 million passengers.
History
The Italian high-speed service began in 1938 with an electric-multiple-unit ETR 200, designed for , between Bologna and Naples. It too reached in commercial service, and achieved a world mean speed record of between Florence and Milan in 1938.
The Direttissima opened in 1977 as the first high-speed rail route in Italy and Europe, connecting Rome with Florence. The top speed on the line was , giving an end-to-end journey time of about 90 minutes with an average speed of . This line used a 3 kV DC supply.
High-speed service was introduced on the Rome-Milan line in 1988–89 with the ETR 450 Pendolino train, with a top speed of and cutting travel times from about 5 hours to 4. The prototype train ETR X 500 was the first Italian train to reach on the Direttissima on 25 May 1989.
The Italian high-speed rail projects suffered from a number of cost overruns and delays. Corruption and unethical behaviour played a key role.
In November 2018, the first high-speed freight rail in the world commenced service in Italy. The ETR 500 Mercitalia Fast train carries freight between Caserta and Bologna in 3 hours and 30 minutes, at an average speed of .
Categories of trains
The main public operator of high-speed trains (alta velocità AV, formerly Eurostar Italia) is Trenitalia, part of FSI. Trains are divided into three categories (called "Le Frecce"): Frecciarossa ("Red arrow") trains operate at a maximum of on dedicated high-speed tracks; Frecciargento (Silver arrow) trains operate at a maximum of on both high-speed and mainline tracks; Frecciabianca (White arrow) trains operate at a maximum of on mainline tracks only.
Rolling stock
Service on the high speed lines is provided by Trenitalia and the privately owned NTV. Several types of high-speed trains carry out the service:
AGV 575: non-tilting, it can reach and has an operational speed of up to , operated by NTV as Italo; ETR 500: non-tilting, it can reach , operational speeds up to , operated by Trenitalia as the Frecciarossa; ETR 1000: non-tilting, operated by Trenitalia as the Frecciarossa 1000, it can reach and has operational speed of .Marco Morino: All'Expo con il Frecciarossa 1000 Il Sole 24 Ore, 7 August 2014 ETR 485, tilting, speeds up to , operated by Trenitalia as the Frecciargento. It operates mainly on traditional lines; ETR 600, tilting, speeds up to , operated by Trenitalia as the Frecciarossa. It operates on routes that include relatively long sections on traditional lines, but also high-speed ones; ETR 610: tilting, speeds up to , operated by Trenitalia on EuroCity trains between Italy and Switzerland together with Giruno trainsets; ETR 675: non-tilting, operated by NTV as Italo; ETR 700: non-tilting, speeds up to , operated by Trenitalia as Frecciarossa mostly on routes consisting of sections on both traditional and high-speed lines.
Current limitations on the tracks set the maximum operating speed of the trains at after plans for operations were cancelled. Development of the ETR 1000 by AnsaldoBreda and Bombardier Transportation (which is designed to operate commercially at , with a technical top speed of over , is proceeding, with Rete Ferroviaria Italiana working on the necessary upgrades to allow trains to speed up to . On 28 May 2018, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the National Association for Railway Safety decided not to run the tests required to allow commercial operation at , thus limiting the maximum commercial speed on the existing Italian high-speed lines to and cancelling the project.Lucio Cillis: Repubblica Affari e Finanza, 2018-05-28
TGV trains also run on the Paris–Turin–Milan service, but do not use any high-speed line in Italy.Substantial travel time differences between the French TGV (around 80 minutes) and Italian high speed trains (around 50 minutes) (Both non-stop times). This time difference of 30 minutes can only be caused by the TGV taking the slower classic route. The fast regional trains who do not take the high speed take only slightly a bit longer, but they have more stops. There is one TGV that stops in Novara with only marginal extra time. It is not possible to stop in Novara without using the Novara–Milan old classic line. Consulted 2017 and 2016 timetables.
Network
The following high-speed rail lines are in use.
Line Length Opening Travel time Top speed Voltage Milan–Bologna 13 December 2008Reuters Italy launches Milan–Bologna high speed train link December 13, 2008 0:53 25 kV 50 Hz Bologna–Florence 5 December 2009 0:35 25 kV 50 Hz Florence–Rome "Direttissima" 24 February 1977 / 26 May 1992 1:18 3 kV DC Rome–Naples 19 December 2005 / 13 December 2009 1:08 25 kV 50 Hz Naples–Salerno "via Linea Monte Vesuvio" (L.M.V.) 15 April 2008 0:30 3 kV DC Turin–Milan 10 February 2006 (Turin–Novara)13 December 2009 (Novara–Milan) 0:44 25 kV 50 Hz Milan–Verona (partly under construction) 10 June 2007 (Milano–Treviglio)11 December 2016 (Treviglio–Brescia) 0:36 (Milano–Treviglio)see Fascicoli Circolazione Linee links in for technical data of RFI (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana) lines (Treviglio–Brescia) 3 kV DC25 kV 50 Hz Padua–Venice (Mestre) 1 March 2007 0:14 3 kV DC Total 999 km
The table shows minimum and maximum (depending on stops) travel times.The table is based on Trenitalia timetables (2011)
BolognaFlorenceMilanNaplesRomeTurin Bologna – 0:350:533:15 (3:35)1:54 (2:03)2:02 Florence0:35 – 1:312:31 (2:51)1:18 (1:45)2:38 Milan0:531:31 – 3:50 (4:18)2:40 (3:08)0:44 (1:00) Naples3:15 (3:35)2:31 (2:51)3:50 (4:18) – 1:085:00 (5:25) Rome1:54 (2:35)1:18 (1:45)2:40 (3:08)1:08 – 3:48 Turin2:022:380:44 (1:00)5:00 (5:25)3:48 –
Milan to Salerno Corridor Milan to Salerno is the major north–south corridor of the high-speed network.
The Milan–Bologna segment opened on 13 December 2008. Its construction cost was about 6.9 billion euro. The line runs parallel to the Autostrada del Sole, crossing seven provinces and 32 municipalities. There are eight connections with historic lines. At the Reggio Emilia interconnection a new station designed by the Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava was opened in June 2013. Calatrava has also designed a signature bridge where the line crosses the A1 motorway. The line travels through a new multi-level station at Bologna (Italy's principal railway junction) designed by Japanese architect Arata Isozaki.
The Bologna–Florence segment opened on 12 December 2009, allowing a 37-minute journey between the two cities. The Bologna–Florence high-speed section was particularly complex to build mainly because about 93% of its runs through tunnels under the Apennines mountain range. The line has nine tunnels, from to long, separated by short surface stretches (less than in total). Florence will have a major new multi-level high speed station at Belfiore designed by British architect Norman Foster.
The Florence–Rome segment consists of the older "Direttissima" (literally: most direct) line between the two cities, with a length of . The first high-speed line in Europe, the "Direttissima" was completed in between 1977 and 1992. This segment is being upgraded by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. Entering Rome, high-speed trains have the option of stopping at either the new intermodal station at Tiburtina, developed by architects ABD Associate led by Paolo Desideri, or Termini station.
The Rome–Naples segment heads south from the Italian capital. Service on the first new high speed segment of the project started in December 2005. This line runs through 61 municipalities in two regions (Lazio and Campania) and connects with the existing national rail network at Frosinone Nord, Cassino Sud and Caserta Nord. On 13 December 2009, work was completed on the last of the line between Gricignano and Napoli Centrale. In the Campania region, the line passes through Afragola where a major new transfer station has been built, designed by Iraqi-born architect Zaha Hadid.
Turin to Trieste Corridor The Turin to Novara segment of the Turin to Trieste corridor runs for and opened in February 2006. The Novara to Milan segment opened on 12 December 2009, allowing a 59-minute journey between Milan Centrale and Turin Porta Nuova (45 minutes from Milan Porta Garibaldi to Turin Porta Susa). Combined, the two segments are long, of which 80% () are in the region of Piemonte (provinces of Turin, Vercelli and Novara) and 20% () in the region of Lombardy (province of Milan). To minimize its environmental impact on the area, almost the entire length of the Turin to Milan high-speed line was constructed parallel to the A4 Turin-Milan motorway.
The Milan to Venice segment includes stretches from Padua to Mestre (for Venice), in service since March 2007, and Milan to Brescia, which runs alongside the A35 motorway and opened for service on 11 December 2016. Between Brescia and Verona the new high-speed line will parallel the A4 motorway for of its total length, and a tunnel will be constructed at Lonato del Garda. This section was scheduled for completion in 2023. The final stretch between Verona and Padua will be constructed by quadrupling the existing railway. The contract for this was let in August 2020 with completion scheduled for 2027. The section between Verona and Vicenza is to be constructed first.
Lines under construction
Milan–Genoa
A line from Milan to Genoa was approved in 2006 at €6.2 billion; construction work started in 2011. The railway, currently 2 tracks with speeds up to 160km/h, will be doubled to 4 tracks with speeds up to 180km/h between Milano Rogoredo station and the entrance of the new base tunnel. The latter will have an operational speed of 250km/h. Work between Genoa and Tortona was temporarily halted due to funding problems, but restarted in 2019 and now is expected to be completed by 2029.
As of September 2025, only the section between Milano Rogoredo and Pieve Emanuele was under construction.
Milan–Venice
On the line from Milan to Venice high-speed trains still have to use the conventional line between Brescia and Padua. The remaining portion from Brescia to Padua is under construction at a cost of €9.82 billion, while the rest of the line is already in operation. The line is built for a speed of . The section between Brescia and Verona will be completed in 2026 while construction should finish on the section between Verona and Padua in 2029, including a tunnel between Lonato del Garda and Desenzano del Garda.
Naples–Bari The construction of the line from Naples to Bari began in 2015 and will cut Naples–Bari journeys from four to two hours. Totaling €6.2 billion for the whole project, the final €2.1 billion needed to complete the project was approved in 2019. The completion of the line is projected for 2027.
Palermo–Catania