The story
Founded by Albert Vaucamps in 1883, in Milan.1
The company was founded as Società Anonima Ferrovie Milano-Saronno e Milano-Erba in 1877 by the Belgian Albert Vaucamps. The Milan-Saronno railroad was inaugurated on 22 March 1879, while the Milan-Erba was opened later in December the same year. In 1883, the company was rechristened Società Anonima per le Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM). Five years later the consortium was joined by Società per le Ferrovie del Ticino, who held the Como-Malnate-Varese-Laveno and Saronno-Malnate lines. Until the end of the century FNM also acquired the lines Novara-Seregno and Saronno-Grandate, forming a large network in northern Lombardy in direct competition with the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo. When railways were nationalized in Italy in 1907, Mediterranea acquired the shares of the Belgian owners.
Electrification of most lines began in 1929, and was completed in 1953. In 1958, passenger service was discontinued on the Saronno-Seregno line, while the Malnate-Grandate line was closed in 1966. In 1974 FNM, a joint-stock company starting from 1943, was entirely acquired by the Lombardy regional government.
Two different companies, Ferrovie Nord Milano Esercizio and Ferrovie Nord Milano Autotrasporti, were created in 1985 with responsibilities for rail and road transport respectively. In 2004 the former was again split into two companies, Ferrovie Nord Cargo (for cargo services) and Ferrovie Nord Milano Trasporti (for passenger trains). In 2006 a new logo and new identities for three companies were adopted: Ferrovie Nord Milano Trasporti S.r.l. became LeNord S.r.l., Ferrovie Nord Milano Esercizio S.p.A. became FERROVIENORD S.p.A. and Ferrovie Nord Cargo S.r.l. became NordCargo S.r.l.. The whole group name became FNM S.p.A..
Since 1993, FERROVIENORD (through LeNord and NordCargo) is managing the Brescia-Iseo-Edolo railway branch, not connected to the main group of lines, centered in the Milan area.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ferrovie Nord Milano, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5