Ferrovie dello Stato

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A.

Type	SPA
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	21 April 1905 (1905-04-21)
Headquarters	Rome, Italy
Key people	Renato Mazzoncini (CEO), Gioia Ghezzi (Chairman)
Products	Passenger and rail freight transport, rail infrastructure management, financial services
Revenue	€8.60 billion (2015)
Net income	€464 million (2015)
Owner	Government of Italy
Number of employees	69.002 (2015)
Subsidiaries	Trenitalia, RFI, Italferr, Grandi Stazioni, Centostazioni, TrainOSE
Website	ferroviedellostato.it

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (previously Ferrovie dello Stato, FS) (in English Italian State Railways) is a government-owned holding company that manages infrastructure and services on the Italian rail network. One of the subsidiaries of the company, Trenitalia, is the main rail operator in Italy.

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Spa owns: Trenitalia, Centostazioni, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, Italferr, Ferservizi, FS Logistica, FS Sistemi Urbani, Busitalia Sita Nord, Fercredit, Grandi Stazioni, Netinera and by the end of 2016 the Greek Rail Operator TrainOSE will also be under the Italian company's hands.

Ferrovie dello Stato (State Railway) was instituted by an act on 22 April 1905, taking control over the majority of the national railways, which were private until then. The president was nominated by the government.

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.