Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane
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Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane

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Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (Italian pronunciation: [ferroˈviːe dello ˈstaːto itaˈljaːne]; lit.'Italian State Railways JSC'; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the initialism FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate services and other services in Italy and other European countries.

The company was instituted by an act on 22 April 1905, taking control over the majority of the national railways, which, until that time, were privately owned and managed. The president was nominated by the government. The first director general was Riccardo Bianchi.

In June 1912 Ferrovie dello Stato owned 5021 steam locomotives, 151 railcars, 10,037 coaches, 3371 baggage cars and 92,990 goods wagons.

With the rise of Fascism, a centralization policy was carried out. The board of directors and chief administrator office were abolished at the end of 1922. The institution was administered by a commissioner, appointed by the King until April 1924. Since then, Ferrovie dello Stato was managed by the newly born Ministry of Communications (including rail transport), under Costanzo Ciano.

After the armistice on 8 September 1943, Italy was divided and train operations were separately directed too, with headquarters in Salerno for the south and Verona for the north. At the end of 1944, the Ministry of Communications was split and the new Ministry of Transport was created, including the general management of Ferrovie dello Stato, and in 1945, the company was renamed Azienda Autonoma delle Ferrovie dello Stato.

The period after World War II was particularly tough for Ferrovie dello Stato, since most of the Italian rail network was severely damaged and the rolling stock was obsolete. The network was rebuilt almost entirely by 1952. Since then, a period of renewal started. New trains were introduced, among them the ETR 300, and many sections of the national network were electrified and sometimes doubled.

In 1957, the new ALn 442/448 multiple unit was introduced, greatly reducing travel time on the Italian network. During these years, the rolling stock was generally renewed and expanded with the mass construction of electrical and diesel multiple units, like the Ale 883, ALe 840 and ALn 772. The FS ALn 668 diesel multiple unit was introduced in 1956. In the following years, 3 MU out of 4 were 668, which replaced many older units. Many electrical multiple units were also introduced during this period, like the ALe 601, progenitor of the Ale 801/940 and ALe 803 EMU, still in use today on regional service.

During the 1970s, a new generation of electronically operated railcars and power trains were first introduced on the Italian network, starting with the G.A.I. (Gruppo Aziende Italiane) trains for regional and metropolitan service.

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