The railway company’s tourist trains are changing tracks
On a sidetrack: FS Treni Turistici Italiani, the Trenitalia subsidiary launched in 2023 to promote the business of special-purpose trains for tourist, historical and religious itineraries, such as the Christmas trains, the Milan–Alba ‘Truffle and Wine’ service or the ‘Trans-Siberian of Abruzzo’.
According to documents consulted by Radiocor, the operations are suffering from ‘structural losses’, having accumulated net losses of over 62 million over three years, and the business model ‘does not appear to be economically sustainable’. Hence the decision to launch a major reorganisation after the summer, spinning off certain assets, which will go directly to Trenitalia, whilst others are set to return to Fondazione FS. In its first year of operation, 2023, FS TTI carried 40,000 passengers on over 600 trains, including heritage, tourist and charter services, but the balance sheet was already in the red by 2.2 million. The deficit had increased sevenfold by the end of 2024 (14.7 million), whilst in 2025, despite a doubling of revenue (around 19 million) – thanks in part to the launch of the luxury service ‘La Dolce Vita’ from Arsenale, losses exceeded 45 million. ‘The management information as at 31 May 2026 – as stated in the financial statements approved in July – indicates a further loss for the period’ for the current financial year.
In 2023, Fs placed its bets on tourist and heritage trains, capitalising on the growing demand for ‘sustainable travel experiences’ that showcase the local area, but the results achieved so far have prompted a reassessment of this business’s true potential. The analysis revealed that ‘historic’ and ‘religious’ trains structurally have a negative revenue-to-cost ratio, whilst the market for rail tourism services is still in its infancy, with ‘unsustainable investment levels and payback periods’.
The 2027–2030 business plan of FS Treni Turistici Italiani, as acknowledged by the directors, highlights ‘the impossibility of ensuring the generation of profit margins and positive cash flows’, with ‘structural losses and funding requirements’ amounting to 10 and 12.8 million euros per annum respectively. Faced with this scenario, Trenitalia is considering a change of direction. The first part of the reorganisation plan involves the spin-off of the Tourism business unit from FS TTI, which will be transferred to Trenitalia SpA. The operation will make it possible to ‘put an end to structural losses, thanks to the more profitable use of rolling stock and crews, as well as the generation of operational and industrial synergies’ and may involve the transfer of around 200 carriages and locomotives and some thirty employees.
The second phase will involve the possible reallocation of the remaining divisions – namely the Historic and Religious/Charter divisions – to the Fondazione FS Italiane. In its assessment, the group emphasises that, beyond financial results, the tourist and heritage train business serves primarily to promote marketing and brand awareness – a role entrusted mainly to the Fondazione FS. The organisation, which is responsible for preserving and managing the railways’ historical heritage, was founded on 6 March 2013 and has a fleet of over 400 historic rolling stock units. Even before the establishment of FS Treni Turistici, it was already organising journeys on vintage rolling stock: in 2019, it carried around 100,000 passengers on 460 routes.
