page_title: Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori
section_title: Launch
hierarchical_section_title: Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori / History / Launch
caption_attribution_description: Italiano: Firenze, Stazione di Santa Maria Novella - Sala d'attesa di NTV
context_page_description: Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori is an Italian train operating company. Commencing services in early 2012, it became Europe's first private open access operator of 300 km/h high-speed trains, using the brand name .italo.
  NTV was created in 2006 as a privately-owned high speed rail operator. In January 2008, the company ordered 25 Alstom Automotrice à grande vitesse trainsets, which formed NTV's initial fleet. Despite intentions to begin services in late 2011, the launch of passenger operations were postponed to April 2012 due to lengthy certification processes. On 28 April 2012, NTV conducted its first service. In its first year of operation, 2 million passengers used NTV's trains. By 2016, annual ridership reached 11 million, taking market share from competing airlines and state-owned incumbent Trenitalia. Further trainsets of Alstom's Pendolino family have also been procured, as well as coordination with bus operators, as measures to expand NTV's service coverage.
  The headquarters of NTV is located in Rome. Since April 2018, the company is majority owned by the infrastructure equity investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners.
context_section_description: On 28 April 2012, NTV conducted its first service, which it launched under the .italo brand. This branding has been applied to other services provided by the company, such as its loyalty card. In its first year of operation, NTV claimed its ridership to have been 2,051,702.
  According to rail periodical Railway Gazette, NTV was initially challenged to achieve a viable return on investment until passenger numbers increased. Ridership increased in the following years, carrying 9.1 million passengers in 2015, having attained a load factor of 71.5%. By this point, NTV was operating 56 trains daily.
  During 2015, NTV then-CEO Flavio Cattaneo launched a strategic turnround initiative, aimed at improving its operations. In 2016, passenger numbers increased again, reaching 11 million. To expand accessibility to its services, NTV has coordinated with bus operators to expand its catchment area to cover towns not directly served by high speed rail.
  That same year, NTV attained its fiscal break-even point for the first time, becoming profitable thereafter. According to Giuricin, NTV quickly became a profitable venture largely due to an efficient and innovative approach to the market; such measures include a high utilisation rate of its rolling stock, typically high load factors for services, and customer engagement efforts. Partially in response to NTV's presence, incumbent operator Trenitalia has also made changes to increase competitiveness. In August 2018, RFI was fined €620,000 for anti-competitive practices favouring Trenitalia over NTV.
  In January 2018, it was announced 35-40% of NTV's shares would be listed on the Borsa Italiana. However, in February 2018, the planned initial public offering was cancelled; instead, NTV's shareholders accepted the take-over offer from Global Infrastructure Partners for 100% of the company, which was then valued at €1.94 billion. Dealing April 2018, the sale was finalised; several of the existing shareholders chose to participate in a capital increase for a joint shareholding of 7.74%. That same year, the company was renamed Italo-NTV, which integrated the .italo brand present on its rolling stock.
  Italian ticket prices have fallen considerably since NTV's commencement of services in 2012; by 2019, the company had achieved a lower cost per available seat-km that most budget airlines, helping the company take market share from competing air routes. Just as NTV's customer numbers grew rapidly in its initial five years, Italian demand for high speed rail travel in general has doubled in the same time period. Specifically, rail operators' market share of the Rome – Milan route has increased from 36% in 2008 to an estimated 80% in 2018, while airline’s share has dropped from 50% to just 14% between the same dates.
  By the late 2010s, NTV was considering launching services outside of Italy; Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the company's chairman, has stated that possibly future markets for the firm include Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom. According to Giuricin, the future of such ambitions on the part of NTV and other private operators is dependent upon the establishment of an appropriate, stable, and clear regulatory environment, particularly in regards to track access charges.
caption: NTV lounge at Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station
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