Mercitalia Fast, the high-speed rail freight service launched by the Italian national rail freight company will not be reinstated. The locomotives used by Mercitalia Rail for this service were returned to its passenger counterpart Trenitalia, all part of the Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) Group.

The service was interrupted in late 2022, with FS saying it was a temporary stop. However, over a year later, it seems that the project will not be brought back. According to Italian media Ferrovie.it, the two locomotives were sent to the Trenitalia factory in Naples, where they will be reinstated in the Frecciarossa fleet.

Mercitalia Fast

The Mercitalia Fast high-speed rail freight service was launched in November 2018 and was the first of its kind in Italy. For this service, goods were traveling on an ETR 500 train, usually used for high-speed passenger transportation, tractioned by E.404 locomotives. During its first months, the service was quite efficient, by achieving 96 per cent punctuality, with the remaining 4 per cent delayed by less than half an hour. The train in fact covered over 520 kilometres in less than three and a half hours.

Also read:

• Italy might cancel an incentive for rail freight rolling stock
• Doubling of Rome-Pescara railway (partly) back on track?
• Rail freight in Italy set back in 2023, subsidies are key to remain afloat