History of the Group
History of the Group
Over the years, the Group has pursued a constant strategy of growth and diversification through numerous operations of acquisition of shareholdings and business units, aimed at consolidating its position in key sectors, expanding into complementary areas and operating in international markets.
Key Figures 2025
880 millions
Consolidated financial statements 2025.
2 400 employees
High specialization.
Among the most representative companies of the Group is GCF S.p.A. – Generale Costruzioni Ferroviarie, founded in 1950 by Attilio and Luigi Rossi as a sole proprietorship. After becoming an S.r.l. in the 1980s and transformed into an S.p.A. in 1990, GCF has established itself as a leading company at national and international level in the sectors of railway trackworks, electrification and signalling, with a leading role in the construction and maintenance of modern railway infrastructures.
Another historical company of the Group is Gefer S.p.A., founded in 1947 on the initiative of Attilio Rossi. With headquarters in Rome, Gefer is mainly active in the field of railway trackworks, often operating in synergy with GCF. Thanks to a path of constant technological updating and significant investments, it has expanded its scope of action including high-speed projects, ordinary and extraordinary maintenance and regeneration of railway switches. In 2013, it obtained the certification SRM – Entity in Charge of Maintenance, further strengthening its reputation in the field of safety and operational reliability.
Acquisitions and shareholdings in Italy and abroad
Within this logic of industrial integration through the strengthening of the Group’s technical and competitive skills are the strategic operations completed in recent years abroad and in Italy.
In France, in particular, Transalp Renouvellement finalized the acquisition of the French companies ETMF and ESITRACT, active in the railway traction sector; in parallel, GCF acquired the share held by ETMF in Transalp, becoming its sole shareholder.
In Italy, the Group has recently strengthened its position in the Electrification sector through the acquisition of C.S.F. – Cronos, a company specialized in electric traction and railway signalling, and through the acquisition of the entire share capital of Colas Rail Italy, now renamed GCFe S.p.A., a company with long experience in electric traction systems and a consolidated presence in High-Speed works, also through the Consorzio Saturno..
The objective of strengthening its operational capabilities in terms of human resources and technologies guided in 2025 the acquisition of Sveco S.p.A., a company specialized in complex infrastructural works, with particular focus on tunnels and underground works in the railway and road sector, thus further strengthening the Group’s design and execution capacity.
2025
Acquisition of Sveco S.p.A., a construction company founded in 1995 and active in the sector of design, construction and maintenance of infrastructural works with particular reference to the railway sector.
2024
Acquisition of the total share capital of Colas Rail Italy (now called GCFE S.p.A.) operating in the electric traction sector
2024
July 2024 acquisition of 75% of the share capital of C.S.F. – Cronos Sistemi Ferroviari S.r.l., operating in the electric traction and signalling systems sector
2023
Acquisition of the companies ETMF e Esitract, companies under French law, operating in the railway traction sector with locomotives
2023
July 2023: from Group PSC S.p.A. the operating business unit called “PAI-PL” is acquired, increasing the operations of GCF S.p.A. in the railway safety sector
2023
GCF S.p.A. completes the purchase of the US company Lone Star Railroad Contractor Inc. based in Texas, carried out through GCF Railworks Inc., a company under US law
2022
The company Ferroli & Co. S.r.l. is acquired, operating in the sector of systems for electric production and transformation of high and medium voltage, and is transformed into the specialized GCF Power.
2021
Autumn 2021. GCF S.p.A. finalizes the purchase of Platinum Track Service Inc., a railway company based in Ontario, Canada. The acquisition and merger operation, carried out through GCF Canada Railwork, allowed the creation of the new Platinum Track Services Inc. - a GCF Group Company.
2021
June 2021. GCF S.p.A. acquires 60% of Cenedese S.p.A. operating in the railway track sector.
The purchase of the entire share capital, planned with further annual tranches of 10%, is completed in 2025
2020
GCF S.p.A. acquired Delcourt Rail, a leading company of the group of the same name, operating in the French railway sector. The company is transformed into 3DH.
2015
Acquisition of the business unit - former Bonciani S.p.A. - of Acmar S.C.P.A., specialized in railway electrification
2012
Acquisition of Valditerra, a company successfully operating in the railway track sector. It is credited with the invention of the “Pony”, the renewal train “Sistema Valditerra” that revolutionized work on tracks. Its prototype was patented and marketed by Matisa under the name P811.
2009
Acquisition of the business unit I.S. Impianti e Segnalamento of NORD TELSE S.r.l., a company that has been operating in the sector for over 10 years
2004
Acquisition of the business unit TE (Electric Traction) from Frate Elettroimpianti S.p.A., a leading Italian company operating in the sector since 1950
1950
Founded by Attilio and Luigi Rossi, GCF was established in 1950 as a sole proprietorship specialized in railway trackworks. Transformed into an S.r.l. in the early 1980s and, in 1990, into an S.p.A., Generale Costruzioni Ferroviarie is today the reference company of the Group.
1947
Gefer, a railway company within the Group, was founded in 1947 as Attilio Rossi’s sole proprietorship. Over the years, it became SO.GE.FER. S.r.l. and, in October 1989, GEFER S.p.A. Today, it remains a specialist in railway track infrastructure and rolling stock maintenance.