- The funds support the purchase of new high-speed trains to enhance the capacity, comfort and frequency of Trenitalia’s services.
- Since 1998, the EIB has invested more than €13 billion in the development of rail and high-speed rail in Italy, strengthening national connectivity and sustainable mobility.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has made a private placement purchase of a €180 million green bond issued by Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (FS) for the expansion and renewal of Trenitalia's high-speed rail fleet. The bond, issued under the Euro Medium Term Notes (EMTN) programme, has a floating rate and a maturity of 17 years.
The funds are designed to support the purchase of new Frecciarossa electric trains, which will be deployed on the entire Italian high-speed network to increase service capacity, introduce new routes and increase service frequency.
The operation is part of the EIB’s wider support for the development of high-speed rail in Italy. Since 1998, the Bank has invested more than €13 billion in modernising the national rail network, helping to strengthen the country's connectivity and promote more sustainable mobility. With this new purchase agreement, the bonds issued by FS and subscribed by the EIB since 2015 under the FS Group's EMTN programme now amount to €1.88 billion.
Background information
The European Investment Bank (ElB) Group is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. In 2025, the EIB Group signed €100 billion in new financing to support more than 870 high-impact projects under eight strategic priorities contributing to EU objectives: climate action and environmental protection, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy, social infrastructure, robust global partnerships and a savings and investment union. In Italy, the EIB Group signed 105 new financing agreements totalling €13.2 billion in 2025, allocating 56% of these funds to climate action and around 40% to investments in cohesion regions.
The FS Group is one of the largest industrial entities in Italy, positioned at the very heart of the country's sustainable mobility system with over 96 000 employees, around 10 000 trains per day, more than 17 000 km of railway lines and 32 000 km of roads. FS's governance is split into five business units (Railway Infrastructure, Road Infrastructure, Italy Passenger Transport, International Passenger Transport, Logistics), each comprising several subsidiaries under the umbrella of the holding company.