Ferrovie dello Stato CEO Stefano Donnarumma to resign after Salvini talks

The resignation decision

The managing director of Italy’s state railway group Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), Stefano Donnarumma, is to resign after a face-to-face meeting with Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday 25 June. Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) sources said Donnarumma will “close the most important dossiers in the coming days before handing in his resignation.” The two men agreed to end his mandate ahead of schedule to launch what the ministry calls the company’s “phase two,” once the objectives of the national Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) have been successfully completed, with a successor chosen from inside the group.

The Minister expressed satisfaction with the NRRP targets achieved, which see FS approaching the €25 billion milestone, and with the company’s enormous effort to combine 1,300 construction sites per day with a 7% improvement in punctuality in June 2026 compared to the same month in 2025.

A pressure campaign from the ministry

The push for a change at the top hardened over the past two weeks. Salvini voiced irritation last week over continued disruptions that hit passengers and commuters. After a first meeting at the transport ministry on Tuesday 23 June the atmosphere appeared to have cooled, and Donnarumma himself said relations had calmed. But the second encounter on Thursday brought the accelerated departure. The ministry had earlier noted that punctuality was improving and attributed many of the disruptions to copper theft, tampering and faults on trains belonging to other railway companies.

What the outgoing leadership delivered

Salvini, according to MIT sources, thanked Donnarumma for his work and the over 90,000 FS employees who perform an essential daily function. The minister also highlighted the investment volume managed in the past two years and the group’s return to a €30 million profit in its latest financial statements. Donnarumma, who has led FS since June 2024 after heading Acea and then Terna, presented a 2025–2029 strategic plan worth €100 billion in investments. The ministry characterised the achievements as a “strong advancement of the Strategic Plan, with focus on construction sites scheduled for this summer and the coming months.”

Gianpiero Strisciuglio, the internal frontrunner

Press reports and ministry indications point to Gianpiero Strisciuglio as the most likely successor. Strisciuglio, 50, holds a degree in transport engineering and has spent 25 years inside the FS group. He currently serves as CEO of Trenitalia, the passenger operator, after being appointed by Salvini in January 2025 following strong results at the helm of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), the infrastructure arm. The transition from RFI to Trenitalia had drawn scrutiny from the European Commission, which questioned whether the move of a senior executive within a vertically integrated group conflicted with EU rules. Strisciuglio’s eventual promotion to the parent company is expected by the end of July.

Political blowback

Opposition figures immediately seized on the resignation. Angelo Bonelli, an MP from the Greens and Left Alliance (AVS) and co-spokesperson of Europa Verde, said Salvini was scapegoating managers while failing to fix the network.

Salvini demands and obtains the resignation of the Ferrovie dello Stato CEO, but he does not resign himself, the terminator of Italian transport. Under his management, Italy has become the country of late trains, constant breakdowns, abandoned commuters and high-speed rail turned into a daily odyssey. If he really believes someone must pay for the disservices, he should start with himself.