In 2006 the rail transport deregulation process opened the door for a group of Italian entrepreneurs to set up Italo S.p.A. (Italo), also known by its trade name: Italo.
Italo is the first private company to operate in the high speed passenger rail transport market within the European Union. Since its first year of operation, Italo was greatly appreciated for the quality of its service and has undoubtedly raised the standards of the market it does business in.
However, Italo continuously updates its best practices and has proved to be able to reinvent itself, both in strategic terms and as concerns general guidelines.
Italo's entrance into the railway market immediately determined a considerable increase in the demand for high-speed trains by passengers, both in absolute terms (new passengers) and in relative terms (passengers that choose the train instead of air or road transport).
The following chart shows the growth of the high-speed railway market:
(1) Long haul excluding “Contributed Services”
(2) Italo and Trenitalia Financial Statements