FS: Donnarumma is leaving. Gianpiero Strisciuglio will be the new CEO
The announcement came following a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport Matteo Salvini
Change at the top of FS. The CEO Stefano Donnarumma will, in the coming days, “wrap up the most important dossiers before handing in his resignation”. This was revealed by sources at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) following a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure Matteo Salvini.
The meeting
“Salvini,” the ministry states, “thanked the chief executive for his work and the more than 90,000 FS employees who perform an essential role every day. Both agree that his term of office should end earlier than planned to allow phase two of the company to begin, having successfully achieved the PNRR targets, with a new leader chosen from within the organisation.” Donnarumma will be succeeded by the current chief executive of Trenitalia , Gianpiero Strisciuglio .
Disagreements with the MEF
Two days ago, Donnarumma (whose term was due to expire following the approval of the 2026 budget, i.e. next spring) and the senior management of the FS Group’s operating companies held a meeting with the Minister for Transport to discuss infrastructure projects, the targets of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), service quality and solutions to the disruption experienced in recent months. Rumours have repeatedly highlighted differences over management with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the group’s controlling shareholder.
Salvini’s frustration at the disruption to services
On that occasion, Donnarumma had highlighted the team’s good record for keeping clean sheets, despite a few days best forgotten for the passengers on high-speed trains (which occurred on 17 and 22 June). ‘We have outlined to the Minister the trend in punctuality, which this year – as he told journalists – in the first half of June shows a marked improvement compared with the previous year and the year before that, with an increase of over seven per cent on the high-speed network.’
Disruptions on the railway lines had led Salvini to express a certain amount of ‘irritation’ at the situation. At Tuesday’s summit, relations appeared to have improved, according to Donnarumma himself. The ministry had also emphasised that train punctuality had improved and that the disruption was mainly caused by copper theft, vandalism and ‘breakdowns involving trains from other railway companies’. Today’s meeting, however, resulted in the acceleration of the CEO’s departure; he had taken the helm at Ferrovie dello Stato two years ago, in June 2024. Prior to that, he had been at the helm of Terna.
