Italy watchdog probes rail operator FS for alleged market dominance

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Antitrust said on Friday it had opened a probe into state-owned railway operator Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) and its unit Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) over its alleged abuse of dominant position in the high-speed passenger transport market. 

RFI allegedly delayed, and in some cases obstructed, access to the national railway infrastructure, potentially hindering the entrance on the market of new operator SNCF Voyages Italia, the authority said in a statement.

Antitrust and tax police officers on Thursday carried out inspections at in the offices of FS and RFI, as well as unit Trenitalia and private operator Italo, for documents considered relevant to the investigation.

FS was not immediately available for comment.

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, editing by Giulia Segreti)