Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 6, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 1, 2026
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Italy’s competition authority accepted binding commitments from RFI that clear the way for a third operator in the high‑speed rail sector—allocating at least 18 train slots over 10 years and giving newcomers priority on underused capacity.
MILAN, March 6 (Reuters) - Italy’s competition watchdog said on Friday it had accepted binding commitments from state-owned railway network company Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) that would open the country's high-speed rail market to a third operator, thus ending an investigation into alleged abuse of dominance.
(Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi, additional reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro, editing by Alvise Armellini)
Italy’s competition watchdog accepted commitments from Rete Ferroviaria Italiana to open access, following concerns over obstruction of new entrants.
RFI will assign the new rail operator at least 18 slots on main high-speed routes for 10 years and prioritize new entrants for available capacity.
The third operator will be given slots on high-speed rail routes linking Turin, Milan, Rome, and Venice.
Italy's high-speed rail market is currently served by state-owned Trenitalia and private operator Italo. SNCF also runs services between Milan and Paris.
No, the Italian Competition Authority did not name the new third operator entering the high-speed rail market.
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