Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI)

No. RFI is a railway infrastructure manager: it owns tracks, signals, overhead lines and stations, and allocates paths. Passenger trains are run by Trenitalia, long-distance competitors and regional operators. Several companies run freight trains, including foreign ones. RFI itself owns only construction, measuring and engineering vehicles.

Both belong to the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane group, but are legally separate companies. RFI sells paths, Trenitalia buys them. This separation is mandated by European law, so that competitors also get non-discriminatory access to the network. That's why, for example, Italo can use the same high-speed lines.

No, and that's the most common misconception. Alongside the state network, regional concession networks exist, historically grown out of private railways and today mostly in regional hands. They have their own infrastructure managers, their own vehicles and, in some cases, their own signalling systems. There's no stable public overview of their exact number and extent – all that can be said reliably is that they exist in several regions.

The classic network was electrified with 3 kV DC and remains so today. The high-speed lines built later received 25 kV 50 Hz AC, because that's more favourable for high power output. Vehicles meant to run on both parts of the network therefore need to be dual-system capable – one reason why Italian long-distance trains are technically demanding.

As a general principle: the station operator holds the house rules, and on the RFI network that's RFI itself. At large stations the platform area is often only accessible with a valid ticket. The legal situation differs from country to country; the general principles are explained in our article on house rules at stations.

Mainly in freight traffic over the Alpine crossings. Among those involved are SBB Cargo International, BLS Cargo and ÖBB Rail Cargo Group. In passenger services there are cross-border cooperations towards Switzerland, Austria and France. In every case, the infrastructure manager stays RFI.

At the Alpine borders. Domodossola sits on the Simplon corridor towards Switzerland, Fortezza on the Brenner axis towards Austria. There you'll see locomotive changes, multi-system machines and foreign keepers side by side. A hub station further inland, by contrast, shows almost only domestic traffic.

A high-speed line is structurally sealed off, has no level crossings, and can only be used by approved vehicles. As a location it's unattractive for spotters: no access, poor sightlines, high speeds. The stations where the legacy and new-build networks converge are more productive – there you see both worlds side by side.

By several features at once: distinct vehicle families, differing signal aspects, station signage of its own, and often its own terminus station in the same city. When in doubt, a good route map helps – how to read one is covered in our guide to reading a route map. Signal knowledge helps too: understanding railway signals.

No. At Tirano, two completely separate systems meet: the standard-gauge Italian state network and a Swiss narrow-gauge railway with its own operator and its own infrastructure. That's exactly what makes the place instructive – within a few metres you see how differently two infrastructure managers operate.