Transport activities of any kind that must covered by public service have recently received much attention by both EU and Italian legislation. In particular. As far as railways are concerned, the most significant measures passed by EU institutions include Directive 440/91 on railway transport in EU member states, and in Italy Law 549 was passed as a part of the 1996 budget provisions. The latter replaces the State with the Regions as the negotiator in the quantity of the offer of railway transportation. These two measures combined mean that Italy’s public transport offer can now be significantly revised, and its is against this very backdrop that both laws are analysed in the present article.
