Trenitalia has agreed a €260 million deal with Hitachi Rail to supply nine ‘next generation’ Frecciarossa high-speed trains, as the Italian rail operator continues to expand its fleet.
The latest order builds on a 2023 deal that included 36 trains, plus an additional 10 trainsets already acquired through an option.
Trenitalia expects to have 57 new trains in service by 2029, with 16 to be delivered in 2027. According to the company, the trains will be equipped with electric motors capable of achieving a maximum speed of 300 km/h, upgraded onboard systems and “innovative” interior features.
The new rolling stock is being manufactured at Hitachi Rail’s facilities in Naples and Pistoia and is designed to operate across seven European railway networks, supporting Trenitalia’s international growth plans.
In its full-year 2025 earnings report, Trenitalia posted a four per cent year-on-year increase in operating revenues to €17.3 billion, including €312 million from rail passenger services – of which €233 million was generated from its international operations.
In a separate update, Trenitalia’s French subsidiary recently announced an €80 million investment to develop a maintenance hub for high-speed trains in Maisons-Alfort Pompadour, southeast of Paris.
The facility will be able to accommodate up to 25 trains and is expected to be operational by the end of 2029. Trenitalia parent FS Italiane Group said the maintenance hub will also support its plans for future high-speed Frecciarossa services between Paris and London.
"With this investment, we are strengthening FS Group's industrial presence in France and supporting the development of European rail mobility,” said Stefano Antonio Donnarumma, CEO and general manager of FS Italiane Group.
“The new maintenance hub represents a strategic infrastructure that will drive the growth of Trenitalia's activities in the country, and will support future high-speed connections between Paris and London, in a view of making trains increasingly central in the European sustainable mobility landscape,” he said.
Competition on the Channel Tunnel, long-dominated by Eurostar, is set to heat up in the coming years. Virgin Group also plans to operate cross-channel services as early as 2030, after the Office of Rail and Road, which regulates the UK’s railways, last October approved the group’s application for access to the Temple Mills international rail depot.