Italian Railways

Italy
A frecciarossa high-speed train at Centrale station in Milan
Operation
National railway	Ferrovie dello Stato
Major operators	Trenitalia (national) Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (national) Trenord (local) Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia Romagna (local) Thello (international)
System length
Total	16,723 km (10,391 mi)
Double track	7,505 km (4,663 mi)
Track gauge
Main	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification
3 kV DC	11,921 km (7,407 mi) (conventional lines)
25 kV AC	1,296 km (805 mi) (high-speed lines)

The Italian railway system is one of the most important parts of the infrastructure of Italy, with a total length of 24,227 km (15,054 mi) of which active lines are 16,723 km. The network has recently grown with the construction of the new high-speed rail network. Italy is a member of the International Union of Railways (UIC). The UIC Country Code for Italy is 83.

RFI (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, Italian Rail Network), a state owned company, administers most of the Italian rail infrastructure. The total length of RFI active lines is 16,723 km (10,391 mi), of which 7,505 km (4,663 mi) are double tracks. Lines are divided into 3 categories:

Most of the Italian network is electrified (11,921 km (7,407 mi)). Electric system is 3kV DC on conventional lines and 25 kV AC on high-speed lines.

The Italian rail network comprises also other minor regional lines controlled by other companies for a total of about 3,000 km.

The first railway in Italy was the Napoli-Portici line, built in 1839 to connect the royal palace of Naples to the seaside. After the creation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, a project was started to build a network from the Alps to Sicily, in order to connect the country.

The first high-speed train was the Italian ETR 200, which in July 1939 went from Milan to Florence at 165 km/h (103 mph), with a top speed of 203 km/h (126 mph). With this service, the railway was able to compete with the upcoming airplanes. The Second World War stopped these services.

After the Second World War, Italy started to repair the damaged railways, and built nearly 20,000 km (12,000 mi) of new tracks.