In the first half of this year, the transport production of the rail cargo sector in Italy has recorded a decline alarming. Ferrci denounces this, warning that, if this tendency will continue, at the end of the year the loss will exceed four million trains/km. According to data from the six-monthly monitoring of In fact, in the first half of 2026 traffic will stop rail freight in Italy stood at 23.7 million trains/km, compared to 25.8 million recorded in the same period of 2014. 2025. In just six months, therefore, more than two million have been lost of trains/km, with a reduction of -8.1%.

The association points out that the latest half-year data worsens A negative dynamic that has affected the sector for several years now years, with the Fermerci 2026 annual report that had already noted that volumes had gone from 53.8 million trains/km in 2021 to 49.4 million in 2025, with a contraction of -7.8% in 2025. period 2022-2025. In 2025 alone, the reduction had been -3.5% year-on-year, marking the third year-on-year decline consecutive. Fermerci points out that, if the trend recorded in the first six months of this year should continue in the second half-year, at the end of 2026 the sector could fall to around 45 million trains/km, bringing traffic volumes back to the levels of 2015. Compared to the 53.8 million recorded in 2021, it would mean a total loss close to nine million trains/km in five years.

For Fermerci, the main cause of the collapse is from identify the numerous interruptions in the railway network related to the infrastructural upgrading works financed by the PNRR. These are - the association specifies - necessary interventions to improve the capacity and performance of the network, which however are producing a very heavy impact on the operation of freight railway undertakings.

For Fermeri, it therefore becomes urgent to intervene with measures of support for the sector and a multi-year recovery plan supported by adequate resources, capable of accompanying companies in this phase and prevent further retreat in rail transport of the goods.

"We are facing - underlines the president of Fermerci, Clemente Carta - to a figure that exceeds all expectations. We knew that the network interruptions related to the PNRR construction sites would have affected the volumes, but the repercussions proved to be much more severe than the and are borne entirely by railway undertakings. If this trend will be confirmed in the coming months, we risk compromise a significant part of the results in a very short time built through ten years of public policies aimed at support rail freight transport. The real risk is that an already evident crisis takes on a character structural. We cannot afford to witness the progressive erosion of rail freight traffic without intervening: we demand to the government to quickly put in place tools appropriate to the seriousness of the situation. Supporting businesses today - concludes Carta - means preventing the loss of traffic becomes irreversible and preserves an industrial heritage and strategic logistics for the country".