In June 2026, the Italy Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport confirmed that Stefano Donnarumma resigned as CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), the country's national railway operator, effectively ending a tenure marked by infrastructure investment but marred by persistent service disruptions and mounting political pressure from Transport Minister Matteo Salvini.
Why This Matters
• Leadership transition: Gianpiero Strisciuglio, current head of Trenitalia, took over to steer FS through a second phase focused on completing infrastructure upgrades.
• Immediate service context: Despite recent improvements, Italy's rail network remained under strain from 1,300 active construction sites and recurring disruptions.
• Political fallout: Opposition parties demanded Salvini's resignation, calling the shake-up evidence of systemic management failure under the current government.
A Resignation Framed as Mutual Agreement
Following a meeting between Salvini and Donnarumma on June 25, the ministry announced that the CEO would "close the most important dossiers" before formally stepping down. The official narrative portrayed the departure as a coordinated handover: PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) targets had been met, nearly 25 billion euros in investments deployed, and the railway group returned to profitability with a 30M euro surplus in its latest balance sheet.
Salvini thanked Donnarumma for his work and praised the over 90,000 FS employees who maintain daily operations. Both parties, according to the ministry, agreed that an early conclusion of the mandate would allow a "phase two" to begin under leadership chosen from within the company.
Yet the timing and circumstances suggested a less amicable reality. Just a week earlier, Salvini had expressed public frustration over a spate of disruptions on major routes, fueling speculation that Donnarumma's days were numbered. A hastily convened meeting on June 20 appeared to ease tensions, with the ministry attributing delays to copper theft, vandalism, and equipment failures by third-party operators rather than systemic mismanagement. That détente proved short-lived.
Service Performance: Gains Amid Growing Pains
The ministry pointed to tangible progress. On-time performance for trains in June 2026 reached 76%, up from 69% in June 2025 and 70% in June 2024. This improvement came despite an unprecedented volume of simultaneous track upgrades, replacements, and expansions across the national network.
Still, residents experienced the daily reality that often diverged from headline statistics. June 2026 saw multiple high-profile incidents:
• A technical fault on the Rome–Fiumicino Airport line on June 25 suspended service between Roma Tiburtina and the terminal, causing cascading delays across the capital's suburban network.
• The Frecciarossa 9511 service from Milan to Caserta suffered mechanical trouble near Milano Porta Garibaldi on June 26, stranding passengers for hours.
• Seismic activity in the Campi Flegrei volcanic zone forced the suspension of regional trains between Napoli Campi Flegrei and Pozzuoli from June 21 onward. At that time, replacement buses were provided with extended commute times.
• Scheduled maintenance from June 1 through July 29 continued to cancel or reroute numerous Frecciarossa, Intercity, and regional services, particularly affecting north–south travel.
• Two national strikes on June 23 and June 26 compounded the operational chaos, leaving commuters and tourists scrambling for alternatives.
Copper theft remained a chronic vulnerability. In the first half of 2026, thieves targeting overhead cables and signal wiring caused delays to roughly 600 trains, a figure that underscored the infrastructure's exposure in rural and less-monitored stretches.
What This Means for Residents
For anyone relying on Italian rail, the leadership change represented both hope and uncertainty at that moment. Strisciuglio, an FS veteran since 2002 who led Mercitalia Logistics and Rete Ferroviaria Italiana before taking the helm at Trenitalia, was widely seen as a capable internal successor with deep operational knowledge. His track record suggested familiarity with the network's bottlenecks and an ability to coordinate across divisions.
However, the fundamental challenges he inherited—1,300 simultaneous construction sites, aging rolling stock, copper theft, and volcanic seismic disruptions—were not problems a CEO could solve alone. They required sustained political will, adequate security funding, and realistic timelines that balance modernization with service continuity.
The Campi Flegrei situation was particularly pressing. Regional trains between Napoli Campi Flegrei and Pozzuoli were suspended due to seismic activity, with replacement buses adding 20 to 40 minutes to typical commute times and seating limited during peak hours.
Political Backlash and Calls for Accountability
Opposition lawmakers wasted no time framing Donnarumma's exit as proof of government incompetence. The Democratic Party (PD) called it "the final act in the transport failure of Meloni and Salvini," arguing that commuters and workers continued to suffer the consequences of flawed policy choices. They demanded Salvini's resignation, labeling him "the worst transport minister in the history of the Republic."
Italia Viva echoed that sentiment, with vice president Davide Faraone describing the resignation as "concrete proof of Salvini's disastrous management," asserting that every train journey under his watch had become "an adventure of delays, surprises, and disruptions."
Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra (AVS) leader Angelo Bonelli accused Salvini of deflecting blame onto an experienced manager rather than accepting responsibility for systemic failures. He dubbed the minister the "terminator of Italian transport."
+Europa and Radicali Italiani defended Donnarumma, arguing that Salvini was scapegoating a competent executive for his own political and communication blunders.
Trade unions, meanwhile, were more circumspect. Sources within labor organizations indicated that talk of a leadership change had circulated for weeks, though the speed of the final announcement caught some off guard. No major union publicly called for Salvini's removal, reflecting a pragmatic calculation that continuity in ministerial oversight—however flawed—might be preferable to further upheaval.
The Road Ahead for FS
Strisciuglio's appointment, formalized between late July and early August 2026, marked the start of what the ministry called "phase two." The emphasis was placed on sustaining the 25 billion euro investment trajectory under PNRR while improving operational reliability and customer satisfaction.
Key dossiers requiring resolution included the electrification of secondary lines in the south, rolling stock procurement for regional services, and completion of the high-speed corridor linking Naples to Bari. The government also faced mounting pressure to harden infrastructure against copper theft, potentially through expanded use of fiber-optic signaling and increased police patrols at vulnerable sites.
Whether the new leadership could deliver smoother journeys while managing a construction blitz of historic proportions remained to be seen. The transition at the top was official; the transition to a truly reliable network was still a work in progress.
