Competition for Deutsche Bahn: Italian operator Italo plans market entry

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The Italian high-speed train operator, Italo, wants to enter the German long-distance transport market starting April 2028, thus competing with Deutsche Bahn. As reported by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), the company initially plans to deploy 30 Velaro high-speed trains from Siemens and is investing 3.6 billion euros in the project. Behind this is former Ferrari CEO and Italo founder Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.

56 connections

In an interview with FAZ, the 78-year-old di Montezemolo explains that the 30 trains are intended to offer a total of 56 connections: The plan is to operate hourly long-distance connections between Munich, Cologne, and Dortmund. Additionally, trains are to run every two hours between Munich, Berlin, and Hamburg.

The operation of the trains is to be organized through a newly founded company, Atrium SE. It is planned as an independent company under German management. Part of the investment in Germany is a maintenance contract with Siemens running for over 30 years.

Through the new company, the manager anticipates 2,500 new jobs in service and operations. This also includes the participation of more than 5,000 industrial workers in train production, which is to primarily take place in North Rhine-Westphalia. The first hires could already be made in June 2026, it is stated.

Experience from Italy

Italo, the private transport company founded in 2006 and which began operations in 2012, has positioned itself as a competitor to the monopoly of the Italian state railway, according to a report by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. The result of liberalization: the number of passengers has increased by 500 percent since 2008; since Italo entered the market, ticket prices have fallen by an average of about 40 percent. “Today, the German market strongly resembles the Italian market before competition. We are therefore confident that we could significantly contribute to improving rail transport,” di Montezemolo told FAZ.

Hurdle InfraGO, Criticism from Flix

The success of the project depends crucially on long-term track access, which is granted by DB InfraGO AG, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn. Tracks are usually allocated annually; Italo is requesting a long-term perspective with reference to the high investments – specifically framework agreements with a term of up to 15 years.

Meanwhile, the long-distance bus and train operator Flix is opposing the market entry of the Italian company, as reported by the Stuttgarter Zeitung. Flix is currently considered one of Deutsche Bahn's biggest competitors in passenger rail transport. Founder André Schwämmlein told the Stuttgarter Zeitung that he considers two providers in the German long-distance market to be sufficient.

FlixTrain currently offers a small fleet of used long-distance trains in Germany. However, in May 2025, the company announced a framework agreement worth billions for up to 65 new long-distance trains with the Spanish manufacturer Talgo. The first trains are scheduled to start in 2028. Further competition for Deutsche Bahn was already hinted at last November: the Italian state railway is also considering entering the long-distance transport business in Germany.

(afl)