Rail transport in Italy high-speed train was the Italian ETR 200, which in July 1939 went from Milan to Florence at , with a top speed of . With this service, the railway was able to compete with the upcoming airplanes. The Second World War stopped these services. After the Second World War, Italy started to repair the damaged railways, and built nearly of new tracks. Nowadays the rail tracks and infrastructure are managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), while the train and the passenger section is managed mostly by Trenitalia. Both are Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) subsidiaries, once the only train operator in
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane European Union directive on the deregulation of rail transport. Other company subsidiaries include TrainOSE, the sole operator for passenger and freight services in Greece, which is under the company's management since 2017, Busitalia, Centostazioni, Fercredit, Ferservizi, FS Logistica, FS Sistemi Urbani, Grandi Stazioni, Italferr, Netinera, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, which manages the infrastructure of the Italian rail network, and Mercitalia, the group's freight operations subsidiary, founded in 2017 Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane owns and operates a ferry service for rail trains connecting the mainland to Sicily, crossing the Strait of Messina. They carry InterCity, InterCityNotte and goods wagon by means of