FS Group lands in Spain, with Frecciarossa making its maiden voyage today

Madrid, 21 November 2022

The maiden voyage of iryo, the company owned by Trenitalia – parent company of the FS Group’s Passenger Hub – departed at 10:30 am from Madrid’s Chamartìn station in Spain. The trip, on a Frecciarossa 1000 with Valencia as destination, anticipated by a few days the first commercial connection that shall commence on 25 November with the initial Madrid-Zaragoza-Barcelona journeys. Additional connections between Madrid, Valencia and Cuenca are then planned from 16 December.

The inaugural journey was attended by Raquel Sánchez – Minister of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda of the Spanish government, María Luisa Domínguez – President of the Spanish railway infrastructure manager ADIF, Carlo Palasciano Villamagna – Chief International Officer and Chief Transformation Officer of the FS Group, Fabrizio Favara – Chief Strategy Officer of the FS Group, Luigi Corradi – CEO of Trenitalia, Carlos Bertomeu and Simone Gorini – President and CEO of iryo respectively, as well as representatives from the Italian Embassy, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Spain and the Spanish business community. Upon arrival at the Joaquin Sorolla station at 12:10 pm, the delegation was received by Ximo Puig, President of the Generalitat Valenciana.  

“Our Frecciarossa landing in Spain and the launch of the commercial activities of our subsidiary iryo are the latest steps, in chronological order, in a strategy that sees the FS Group increasingly active in an integrated European railway market that is now open to competition. One of the Group’s missions is to contribute – in Italy and in Europe – to enhancing the virtuous role of the train as a green means of transport par excellence and, thanks in this case to the collaboration with Spanish institutions, to offer a concrete contribution to the construction of an intermodal, digital and sustainable transport model. We intend to make the experience gained in the Italian high-speed market available to Europe and Spain, so as to replicate the positive results and models that have proved successful, also and above all for travellers and the territories,” declared Luigi Ferraris, CEO of the FS Group.

From 31 March next year, iryo will operate connections between Seville, Malaga, Antequera and Cordoba, then on 2 June of next year, it will also reach Alicante and Albacete thanks to 20 Frecciarossa 1000 trains – the fastest, most sustainable and environmentally-friendly in Europe. Frecciarossa trains are made of 95% recyclable materials, have reduced fuel consumption compared to previous-generation trains and are able to limit CO₂ emissions per passenger-kilometre to 28 grams. For such reasons, these are the first trains to have obtained an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).

In addition to Spain, the FS Group is already present in France with Trenitalia France and through connections along the Paris-Lyon-Milan route, in the UK with Avanti West Coast and c2c, in Greece with Hellenic Train through medium- and long-distance connections, in Germany with regional passenger transport operator Netinera and logistics operator TX Logistik, as well as being in the Netherlands with road transport operator Qbuzz.