Ferrovia Imperiale

Ferrovia Imperiale (lit. Imperial Railway), often abbreviated as FI, is the state owned national railway company of Aciria. Founded in 1865, the FI provides both passenger and freight transport services on the Acirian rail network. FI is by far the most significant operator in the Acirian public transport market area with nearly 250,000 employees, 3 billion passengers served annually and 300 million tons of freight transport as of 2020.

FI is split into Ferrovia Passeggeri (passenger trains) and Ferrovia Merci (freight trains). Ferrovia Passegeri is further split into Ferrovia Rurali and Ferrovia Metropolitana. Following the addition of the Kingdom of Crasoa and Kingdom of Malatra into Aciria, FI created subsidiaries in both for easy integration into the larger Acirian rail infrastructure.

History
FI was formed in 1865 by Giuliano I to ensure the efficient construction of the railway system. Prior to trains, contact between the inland cities and coastal cities was very limited, with the inland settlements being small farming or mining towns while the coastal cities were overpopulated and crowded. To encourage both economic development inland and migration inland the first railroads were constructed, with the small, poor inland settlements finally being connected to the prosperous coast and the rest of the world.

The first railroad constructed was between the two biggest cities at the time, Trossera and Pantevenna. Construction of multiple main lines by the FI to Soleramo and Chegallari followed, and eventually grants were given for smaller railways to be constructed by private companies in the following decades. FI generally operated the high-demand main lines. In the early 20th century the smaller, privately owned companies were absorbed into the FI, which then assumed monopoly in Acirian rail transport.

Until 1996 the construction and maintenance of the rail network had been the responsibility of the Imperial Agency for Safe Transportation, formed shortly after FI, but due to financial troubles the responsibility was sold off to Soluzioni Infrastrutturali.

Commuter railway services
All of the major cities in Aciria have a commuter railway service operated by Ferrovia Metropolitana. The railway services offer trains which mainly run above ground in their respective cities metropolitan area, but the Ferrovia Metropolitana tickets are interchangeable with metro, bus and tram networks in the metropolitan areas.

High-speed rail
High-speed rail exists between all the major cities in Aciria, with majority of them going through Trossera. The only major hubs that aren't connected to the rail network are Montverde and the rail network operated by Ferrovia Crasiana, but an ambitious construction project to connect Ferrovia Crasiana and Montverde is being researched. All of the high-speed rail journeys are operated by Ferrovia Rurali, which is responsible for operating both medium- and long distance rails. The high speed rail uses the standard gauge widely used elsewhere in Sarpedon.