ITALY: After a 13 year pause Arenaways is returning to the market in less than 100 days with the operation of two lines in the Piemonte region under PSO contracts.
The launch timeline was confirmed by Arenaways CEO Matteo Arena, who spoke to Railway Gazette International at InnoTrans on September 26. Arenaways also unveiled its updated livery at the show.
In March, the Piemonte region awarded Italian private operator Arenaways a 10 year PSO contract starting on January 1 2025 to run passenger services on the Cuneo – Savigliano and Ceva – Ormea secondary lines.
Transport regulatory body ART gave the approval in February for the company to operate inter-city passenger services on six domestic routes and one international corridor under open access rules.
Arenaways is owned by Longitude Holding. Its shareholders are Matteo Arena, rail infrastructure contractor Generale Costruzioni Ferroviarie and Caronte & Tourist which operates ferries in southern Italy.
Matteo Arena’s father, Giuseppe Arena, founded Arenaways, and the company briefly ran Torino – Milano open access services in 2010-11. At the time, the rail regulator refused to grant Arenaways approval to call at intermediate stations on this route, believing this would have threatened the viability of Trenitalia’s subsidised regional services. Arenaways failed to attract sufficient passengers and operations ceased in 2011.
