Itabus gets on the Italo trains. The board of directors of the railway operator announced today, Friday May 5th, the acquisition and the consequent industrial integration of the May 2021 on the initiative of Flavio Cattaneo, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, Isabella Seragnoli, Gianni Punzo and Angelo Donati, also protagonists of the adventure of the red trains of Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori. To be precise, Cattaneo is Itabus’ reference shareholder with 30% of the shares held through Partind Cinque srl and was CEO of Ntv from 2015 to 2016; Montezemolo of 17.5% with GI Gloninvest; Punzo by a further 17.5% with Glp srl; Donati another 17.5% with Dbus srl and Seragnoli the last 17.5% with Mais spa. With the exception of Donati, the other four are also minority shareholders of Italo-Ntv: they hold 7.7% together with Alberto Bombasse i and the Peninsula Fund. The US fund Gip (Global Infrastructure Partners) III Global Investment holds 72.6% instead. Negotiations about a possible sale of the railway operator by 2024 remain in the background. Rumor has it that Gianluigi Aponte’s MSC Group is among the candidates.

integration

To date, there has been a partnership between the high-speed services of Ntv and Itabus, connecting over 150 Italian cities with 800 lines daily. With 100 Man buses (Volkswagen Group) and after only two years of activity, despite the restrictions of the pandemic period, the company has already exceeded 2 million travelers and closed 2021 with a turnover of 30 million. Once the integration with Italo is complete, connections between train stations and airports and ports will be created, urban micro-mobility and the integrated mobility network will develop, offering passengers a wide choice to be purchased from a single multimodal platform and with the facilitation of a one-way ticket. In addition, the Cartel Office approved this week that Italo-Ntv can sell tickets for Trenitalia’s regional and intercity service in combination with its own high-speed services.

Montezemolo: operation for the country

a good thing for the country and good private entrepreneurship, welcomed Italo President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo. We have three goals – announces Montezemolo: to achieve capillary integration between different means of transport, bearing in mind that our trains stop in large cities; Work with night trips as many people cross the country, for example from Reggio Calabria to Turin; and then plan further integration with ports, airports and abroad. We asked for permission to stop in Lyon, we will land at the end of the year – says the manager -. We think of Monaco, Nice and Geneva. We are a company that makes the service its success – continues the president of Italo – ten years ago the train was considered second rate compared to a certain type of audience, today it’s not like that, it’s essential and I believe that this initiative with high-level bus will convince the use by a young audience.

In operation since summer

The service will be operational from the summer, the first connections will concern Campania, Sicily and Puglia and then be extended to all of Italy. A 24 hour service to which is added an efficient and effective charter offer to meet the needs of schools, sports clubs, tourist groups and all types of public and private communities. Thanks to this operation, travelers will have at their disposal a real integrated mobility service, a project that Italo believes in and has been studying for years to facilitate travel in the region, commented Gianbattista La Rocca, Italo’s Managing Director. With a fleet of currently 51 trains and 100 buses, but which could grow in the coming years, we will connect all of Italy, serving major cities, tourist villages and infrastructure hubs such as ports and airports 24 hours a day. Finally, Ntv’s board of directors confirmed that Flavio Cattaneo (enel CEO-elect) is handing over all responsibilities to President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, who remains a shareholder of the company and non-executive vice-president. Itabus, on the other hand, will continue to be managed by the two managing directors Francesco Fiore and Enrico Zampone, with Gianbattista La Rocca becoming President, replacing Elisabetta Colacchia. The meeting to approve the annual accounts of Itatlo-Ntv will instead be convened on May 8th.