In its 2025 activity report, the Italian Railway Police highlights the operations carried out at border stations and on cross-border passenger trains aimed at preventing irregular immigration.
Throughout 2025, numerous surveillance operations were conducted at border stations and on cross-border passenger trains, in particular to counter irregular immigration.
The activities, carried out along the Brenner and Tarvisio border corridors, including joint operations with the Austrian and German police forces, resulted in checks on a total of 20,434 foreign nationals, marking a 6.4 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Of those checked, 729 were found to be irregularly present on national territory, according to the Railway Police's (Polizia Ferroviaria) annual activity report.
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Last year's figures
In 2025, the Railway Police recorded more than one thousand arrests, and over 14,000 people were placed under investigation. A total of 4,853,788 individuals were checked, representing a 7 percent increase compared to 2024; 14,076 people were reported to judicial authorities, while 1,146 were arrested.
A total of 42,924 patrols were deployed on board 97,670 trains, including commuter services.
To combat thefts and scams targeting passengers, both in stations and on trains, 8,526 plainclothes anti-pickpocketing operations were carried out, the report states.
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Boost to the "Safe Stations" plan
More than 10,577 fines were issued, including 4,538 penalties for violations of railway police regulations and 1,491 for breaches of the Highway Code. A total of 45,842 pieces of luggage were inspected, and 335 checks were carried out at luggage storage facilities.
Police seized 379 weapons and quantities of narcotics, including 22 kg of hashish and 1.3 kilogram of cocaine.
As part of the Safe Stations plan, more than 1,003,608 people were identified nationwide (352,541 in Milan Central Station, 387,200 at the Rome Termini station, and 263,867 at Central Station in Naples).
A total of 2,582 individuals were reported to judicial authorities (1,466 in Milan Central, 638 in Rome Termini, and 478 in Naples Central); while 533 people were arrested (240 in Milan Central, 179 in Rome Termini and 114 in Naples Central).
An additional 343 people were reported, and 19 were arrested nationwide as part of operations to fight copper theft.