Stadler's Narrow-Gauge Battery Train Cleared for Passenger Service in Italy

Italy's rail safety regulator, ANSFISA, has authorised the first Stadler-built SRBe 312 battery-electric trainset to enter passenger service on Ferrovie Appulo Lucane's (FAL) isolated 950mm narrow-gauge network in southern Italy, Stadler and FAL confirmed. The approval marks the operational debut of what the companies describe as Europe's first purpose-built narrow-gauge battery-electric train.

FAL ordered seven of the trainsets from Stadler in 2023-24, and the design was first unveiled publicly at EXPO Ferroviaria in Milan in 2025. Each two-car set is 36.5 metres long, seats 87 of its 164 total passenger capacity, and was manufactured entirely at Stadler's headquarters in Bussnang, Switzerland. The trains will run initially on the 27.4km Altamura-Matera line.

FAL estimates the battery fleet will cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1,300 tonnes a year compared with the diesel units it replaces. Because FAL's network is physically isolated from Italy's standard-gauge system and only partially electrified, battery traction lets the operator avoid costly full electrification while still retiring diesel rolling stock — a model other narrow-gauge and isolated networks in Europe are likely to watch closely.