{"id":3604,"date":"2025-04-03T16:31:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T14:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/?p=3604"},"modified":"2026-01-08T16:46:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T15:46:55","slug":"tpl-europeo-modello-italiano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/tpl-europeo-modello-italiano\/","title":{"rendered":"EUROPEAN LPT AND THE ITALIAN MODEL: why are large italian groups missing?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-7fa62b27620f156c6822a2fc8056cbac\"><em>In the context of the TPL european unlike the Italian, the management of the services is largely entrusted to <strong>operators of large industrial<\/strong>often <strong>active<\/strong> at <strong>more Countries<\/strong> structured as <strong>multinational groups<\/strong>. The dominant presence of these players \u2013 including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.transdev.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Transdev<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.keolis.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Keolis<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arrivagroup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Arriva<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/int.bahn.de\/it\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">DB Group<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ratp.fr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">RATP Group<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mobicogroup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mobico<\/a>\u2013 is the result of an evolution of regulatory and industry that has encouraged the internationalization of the sector.<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The analysis examines the main local public transport operators active in the European market, comparing their economic and operational dimensions, including turnover, number of employees, type of services operated and, in particular, their presence in foreign markets.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1810\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/TPL-europeo-e-modello-italiano_eng-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3623\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/TPL-europeo-e-modello-italiano_eng-1-scaled.jpg 1810w, https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/TPL-europeo-e-modello-italiano_eng-1-1280x1810.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/TPL-europeo-e-modello-italiano_eng-1-980x1386.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/TPL-europeo-e-modello-italiano_eng-1-480x679.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) and (max-width: 1280px) 1280px, (min-width: 1281px) 1810px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-c40ba2c8e0f305e41631c4951181bcb3\" style=\"color:#0763e3\">Share on:<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-social-links has-large-icon-size has-icon-color has-icon-background-color is-style-pill-shape is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-social-links-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-social-links-is-layout-flex\"><li style=\"color:#ffffff;background-color:#ebebeb;\" class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-linkedin has-white-color wp-block-social-link\"><a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/sharing\/share-offsite\/?url=https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/tpl-europeo-modello-italiano\/\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path 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c0.315,0.315,0.51,0.615,0.673,1.035c0.123,0.317,0.27,0.794,0.31,1.671c0.043,0.949,0.052,1.234,0.052,3.637 s-0.009,2.688-0.052,3.637c-0.04,0.877-0.187,1.354-0.31,1.671c-0.163,0.42-0.358,0.72-0.673,1.035 c-0.315,0.315-0.615,0.51-1.035,0.673c-0.317,0.123-0.794,0.27-1.671,0.31c-0.949,0.043-1.233,0.052-3.637,0.052 s-2.688-0.009-3.637-0.052c-0.877-0.04-1.354-0.187-1.671-0.31c-0.42-0.163-0.72-0.358-1.035-0.673 c-0.315-0.315-0.51-0.615-0.673-1.035c-0.123-0.317-0.27-0.794-0.31-1.671C4.631,14.688,4.622,14.403,4.622,12 s0.009-2.688,0.052-3.637c0.04-0.877,0.187-1.354,0.31-1.671c0.163-0.42,0.358-0.72,0.673-1.035 c0.315-0.315,0.615-0.51,1.035-0.673c0.317-0.123,0.794-0.27,1.671-0.31C9.312,4.631,9.597,4.622,12,4.622 M12,3 C9.556,3,9.249,3.01,8.289,3.054C7.331,3.098,6.677,3.25,6.105,3.472C5.513,3.702,5.011,4.01,4.511,4.511 c-0.5,0.5-0.808,1.002-1.038,1.594C3.25,6.677,3.098,7.331,3.054,8.289C3.01,9.249,3,9.556,3,12c0,2.444,0.01,2.751,0.054,3.711 c0.044,0.958,0.196,1.612,0.418,2.185c0.23,0.592,0.538,1.094,1.038,1.594c0.5,0.5,1.002,0.808,1.594,1.038 c0.572,0.222,1.227,0.375,2.185,0.418C9.249,20.99,9.556,21,12,21s2.751-0.01,3.711-0.054c0.958-0.044,1.612-0.196,2.185-0.418 c0.592-0.23,1.094-0.538,1.594-1.038c0.5-0.5,0.808-1.002,1.038-1.594c0.222-0.572,0.375-1.227,0.418-2.185 C20.99,14.751,21,14.444,21,12s-0.01-2.751-0.054-3.711c-0.044-0.958-0.196-1.612-0.418-2.185c-0.23-0.592-0.538-1.094-1.038-1.594 c-0.5-0.5-1.002-0.808-1.594-1.038c-0.572-0.222-1.227-0.375-2.185-0.418C14.751,3.01,14.444,3,12,3L12,3z M12,7.378 c-2.552,0-4.622,2.069-4.622,4.622S9.448,16.622,12,16.622s4.622-2.069,4.622-4.622S14.552,7.378,12,7.378z M12,15 c-1.657,0-3-1.343-3-3s1.343-3,3-3s3,1.343,3,3S13.657,15,12,15z M16.804,6.116c-0.596,0-1.08,0.484-1.08,1.08 s0.484,1.08,1.08,1.08c0.596,0,1.08-0.484,1.08-1.08S17.401,6.116,16.804,6.116z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Instagram<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n\n<li style=\"color:#ffffff;background-color:#ebebeb;\" class=\"wp-social-link wp-social-link-facebook has-white-color wp-block-social-link\"><a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/tpl-europeo-modello-italiano\/\" class=\"wp-block-social-link-anchor\"><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M12 2C6.5 2 2 6.5 2 12c0 5 3.7 9.1 8.4 9.9v-7H7.9V12h2.5V9.8c0-2.5 1.5-3.9 3.8-3.9 1.1 0 2.2.2 2.2.2v2.5h-1.3c-1.2 0-1.6.8-1.6 1.6V12h2.8l-.4 2.9h-2.3v7C18.3 21.1 22 17 22 12c0-5.5-4.5-10-10-10z\"><\/path><\/svg><span class=\"wp-block-social-link-label screen-reader-text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"translation-block\">The lack of the formation of large national groups in the local public transport (LPT) market in Italy, unlike in other European countries, is the result of a combination of historical, regulatory and industrial factors. The main reasons behind this phenomenon can be traced to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Absence of a real competitive market:<\/strong>Absence of a real competitive market: in many European countries, LPT has been progressively opened up to competition through periodic public tenders, with clear and time-bound tenders. This has created the conditions for the development of competitive industrial operators, driven to grow in order to acquire new contracts, also abroad. In Italy, on the contrary, the use of tenders has historically been very limited: most services have been managed by direct award or extended without competition, often through public companies controlled by local authorities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"translation-block\">Highly fragmented market structure: The Italian system has historically been characterised by hundreds of small or medium-sized operators, often locally rooted and with public governance. This fragmentation has made it difficult to form national players capable of competing with large European groups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Strong roots in public-local<\/strong>In Italy, most of the companies TPL has a public property local (Municipalities, Provinces or Regions), often in a logic of control and more oriented to the management of the consensus that the industrial growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"translation-block\">Limited access to capital and delayed capitalisation: Italian LPT companies often have limited assets and reduced investment capacity. In contrast, European groups have benefited from state participations, infrastructure funds (as in the case of the Arriva group, which recently passed into the hands of the I Squared Capital fund), stock exchange listings (45% of the non-Italian operators analysed are listed on the stock exchange) or joint ventures that have allowed them to acquire companies and participate in international tenders. Without critical mass, adequate financial resources and market-oriented governance, it is difficult for an operator to develop in a multinational manner.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li class=\"translation-block\">Lack of national industrial direction: Italy has lacked a systemic industrial strategy in the LPT sector, capable of stimulating integration between operators and the emergence of national champions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignwide size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1397\" height=\"2560\" src=\"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Tab-eng-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3614\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Tab-eng-scaled.jpg 1399w, https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Tab-eng-1280x2342.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Tab-eng-980x1793.jpg 980w, https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Tab-eng-480x878.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) and (max-width: 980px) 980px, (min-width: 981px) and (max-width: 1280px) 1280px, (min-width: 1281px) 1397px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>*Data of Go-Ahead Group Plc and Nobina AB are relative to 2022<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>**Data of First Group Plc and ComfortDelGro Corporation Ltd are relative to 2024<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>***Deutsche Bahn AG Group figures relate to the integrated railway system only&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Italian examples of internationalization in the TPL<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-d2fb6f721c9b2e82525055f12a8d16c5\">In the Italian panorama of public transport, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fsitaliane.it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">FS Italiane<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.atm.it\/it\/Pagine\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ATM Milano<\/a><\/strong> are unique examples of operators that have successfully implemented the strategies of internationalization, managing services of the TPL also outside of the national borders. The <strong>FS group<\/strong>through its foreign subsidiaries, is present in several european Countries in particular, in <strong>Germany<\/strong> via <strong>Netinera<\/strong>, one of the leading transport operators in the local rail and road, and in the <strong>Netherlands<\/strong> via <strong>Qbuzz<\/strong>active in many regional areas, with bus and tram. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-42dfad8ccaaec4af79cba5b291b6435f\">Similarly, <strong>ATM Milano<\/strong> it has extended its activities in the international context, consolidating its presence in the <strong>automatic underground of Copenhagen<\/strong>, and the gain of the management of the <strong>metro of Thessaloniki<\/strong> and creating <strong>ATM France<\/strong>that was among the best in the bidders in the tender in three lots-de-l&#039;\u00eele-de-France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These examples demonstrate that, even in a sector that is highly localized and regulated as a TPL, <strong>Italian operators can express the skills that can be exported<\/strong>seizing opportunities in foreign markets, and contributing to the construction of models of integrated mobility even outside of the national territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The future of the TPL in italy between races and consolidation in the industry<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"translation-block\">Even analysing the Italian cases often considered among the most efficient, it is clear how wide the distance is still compared to European best practices. The prospect of the launch of post-2026 tenders could accelerate industrial consolidation processes, favouring the entry of structured operators and encouraging dimensional growth through mergers, acquisitions or strategic partnerships. In this scenario, observing the evolution of European models may offer useful insights to anticipate competitive dynamics and define positioning strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more insights, also read our analysis of salaries in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/stipendi-tpl-europa-costo-vita\/\">Local Public transport in Europe<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-left is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-fdcfc74e wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-black-color has-text-color has-background has-link-color has-small-font-size has-text-align-left has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/mercato-autobus-europeo-2024\/\" style=\"background-color:#ebebeb\">Previous article<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><br><br><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nel contesto del TPL europeo a differenza di quello italiano, la gestione dei servizi \u00e8 in larga parte affidata a operatori industriali di grandi dimensioni, spesso attivi in pi\u00f9 Paesi e strutturati come gruppi multinazionali. La presenza dominante di questi player \u2013 tra cui Transdev, Keolis, Arriva, DB Group, RATP Group, Mobico\u2013 \u00e8 il risultato [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3625,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mobility-metrics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3604"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3604\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5320,"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3604\/revisions\/5320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.basco-t.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}