TRIESTE – Siemens Mobility and Railpool have signed a preliminary agreement with the Consorzio ZAI to acquire a 15,000-square-metre site at the Verona Interporto, where a new Rail Service Center for locomotive maintenance will be built. The planned investment is around €20 million.
The centre will be developed as an open-access facility, available to locomotives from different manufacturers. It will provide light maintenance, scheduled inspections and testing for multi-system vehicles and DC rolling stock. It will be fully compatible with the main European signalling systems. The project includes five maintenance tracks and one track equipped with a wheel lathe for wheel reprofiling, ensuring high operational availability.
The choice of Verona is linked to its location along the Brenner corridor, which is set to double capacity with the opening of the Base Tunnel in 2032. The new facility will work in synergy with the Rail Service Center in Novara, which has been operational since 2015.
Pierfrancesco De Rossi, CEO of Siemens Mobility Italy, said the investment confirms the company’s commitment to more sustainable and competitive freight transport. For Alberto Lacchini, general manager of Railpool Italy, the centre expands maintenance capacity in a strategic area, with the goal of starting operations in 2028. Barbara Cimmino, Confindustria vice president for export, called it a positive signal for the country’s competitiveness and its ability to attract investment in strategic value chains. On the corporate side, Siemens Mobility also thanked partners Railpool and Consorzio ZAI, as well as the Italian and international teams involved in the project, highlighting the value of the collaboration that made it possible to launch this new initiative.
