Florence, 4 June 2018
150 years of engineering excellence at the service of railways and the country.
This is the goal achieved by the Pontassieve National Armament Workshop, celebrated today by Renato Mazzoncini, CEO of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Claudia Cattani and Maurizio Gentile, President and CEO of the Italian Railway Network, respectively, Vincenzo Ceccarelli, Councillor for Infrastructures and the Mobility of the Tuscany Region, and Monica Marini, Mayor of Pontassieve.
Founded in 1868 on the initiative of the Roman Railways Company and acquired by the FS in 1905, over the years, the Workshop became a true point of reference for the production, maintenance, and repair of the national railway infrastructure and fundamental elements for its operation, especially trade and track equipment.
Today the Pontassieve Workshop is a technologically advanced centre, leader in the production of track components, both standard and special, with a staff of about 100 workers and an annual turnover of over 67 million euro. Approximately 1,200 turnouts and 4,000 joints were made there in 2017.
It’s a production site that fully represents the soul of FS Italiane, combining experience and tradition, but also innovation and technological development. The National Armament Workshop in Pontassieve is in fact part of the various production sites through which Rete Ferroviaria Italiana supports maintenance processes and, therefore, the performance of the infrastructure. A successful industrial story, destined to continue thanks to expansion projects currently underway, which will allow new processes to be introduced into the production cycle.
"Celebrating the 150th anniversary of this workshop helps us to retrace the history of the railways and, therefore, of the country. A long and prestigious history of innovations, experiments, records, large infrastructural investments and hence development, modernity, know-how, and above all professionalism of the men and women who have upheld the name of this workshop over the centuries and that today represent its real value. The baggage of technical culture and experience preserved here is an essential requirement to imagine the future of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane and to project ourselves into the challenges of mobility that lie ahead».
RENATO MAZZONCINI, CEO and GENERAL MANAGER of FS ITALIANE GROUP
«Today, the Rete Ferroviaria Italiana is one of the leading industrial companies due to the complexity of its production processes. The Pontassieve Workshop is in fact part of a larger system of production centres that also includes the Bari National Armory Foundry Workshop and the Bologna Electric Appliance Factory, in addition to the Catanzaro and Cute vehicle work sites. Being able to have such assets allows us to have productive strategies of a broader vision and therefore be more competitive».
MAURIZIO GENTILE, CEO of RETE FERROVIARIA ITALIANA