Rail network modernisation in Italy has secured about €4 billion after the government and national infrastructure manager RFI signed the 2025 update to their 2022–2026 investment contract.

Electrified railway junction and multiple tracks near Roma San Pietro station in Italy
Electrified tracks and junction equipment near Roma San Pietro station. Illustrative image; it does not depict the 2025 funding agreement. Photo: Grauer Elefant / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0.

The agreement was announced on 17 July 2026. The 2025 programme-contract update⁠ completes the process required by Italian law after the authorities notified CIPESS in December 2025.

It supplements the investment component of the 2022–2026 contract between the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, part of the FS Group.

How the €4 billion package is divided?

Although the package is presented as about €4 billion, its disclosed components total €3.9 billion.

Of that amount, €1.7 billion consists of earmarked resources tied to specific measures and programmes. The sources include the Floods Decree, A22 funds, allocations for continuing public works and updating costs, regional operational programmes in Sicily and Calabria, and agreements with local authorities.

A further €2.2 billion comes from Italy’s 2025 Budget Act and has no predetermined allocation. It is divided equally: €1.1 billion will continue projects already under construction and existing investment programmes, while another €1.1 billion will cover residual financing needs and additional costs linked to projects supported by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

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Funding keeps existing rail projects moving

The update does not identify a newly approved line or station. Instead, it provides financial continuity for works and programmes already in progress, as well as PNRR investments facing remaining funding requirements or higher costs.

In a separate May update, RFI reported⁠ that its investment expenditure reached €11.6 billion in 2025, with about 1,300 worksites active across Italy. That figure is separate from the new funding package but shows the broader scale of work across the national network.

The ministry and RFI expect the agreement to support technological upgrading, expansion and modernisation for both passenger and freight transport. The announcement does not provide a project-by-project allocation or revised completion dates.

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