Today, on May 5, 2025, the national conference "Rail Transport Security" was held at the headquarters of Confcommercio Milano. The event was promoted by ANIVP (National Association of Private Security Institutes) in collaboration with Confcommercio and Confedersicurezza.

This high-profile event featured the participation of key institutional and industry representatives, including the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, ANIVP President Tullio Mastrangelo, AISeM President Vincenzo Acunzo, Secretary General of Confcommercio Milano Marco Barbieri, as well as numerous railway security experts.

Durante le pause dell’evento, e successivamente nel corso di approfondimenti, il management di Vigilar Group ha elaborato una serie di osservazioni strategiche che riteniamo rilevanti per il dibattito tecnico sulla sicurezza ferroviaria:

• The need to evolve the current rail security model with a more proactive and deterrent approach, inspired by the Spanish model after Madrid 2004, introducing quick yet effective forms of access pre-screening and non-invasive checks;
• Interest in predictive analytics technologies, behavioral recognition, and facial recognition integrated with open-source intelligence, capable of generating a “mini risk profile” for individuals present in stations, all while respecting GDPR regulations;
• The opportunity to involve private operators specialized in investigation and predictive security in the prevention/tracking phase of at-risk individuals, such as those linked to organized crime, radicalization, or insider threats;
• The importance, also from a cultural standpoint, of complementing traditional security personnel with professionals trained in investigative micro-observation, capable of detecting suspicious behavior in high-risk rail environments.

These issues were also connected to recent events in Europe, particularly the blackout of April 29, 2025, which affected Spain, Portugal, and France: an incident likely caused by a cyberattack, demonstrating how railway infrastructures are now vulnerable to digital threats with tangible impacts on mobility and safety.

In this regard, our company reiterates the importance of integrating physical, cyber, and operational security within a unified resilience strategy, through simulation scenarios, business continuity plans, and integrated predictive systems.

Speaking of security scenarios, it is worth recalling a post by Davide Castro on a former Vigilar Group blog in 2012, titled "Security and Trains," which already then exposed severe vulnerabilities in major Italian train stations and the lack of a structured preventive model. Thirteen years later, the perception of risk and critical issues have, in some ways, worsened: youth gangs, assaults, unauthorized encampments, hybrid threats

According to our CEO Francesco Castro: "Today we finally have the technological and organizational tools to change the paradigm. But what we need is the will and regulations. Railway security is an achievable goal only if we move from a reactive logic to a predictive and integrated vision".

L’incontro ha confermato quanto la collaborazione tra pubblico e privato, tecnologia e formazione, sicurezza fisica e digitale, sia l’unica via percorribile per affrontare le nuove sfide di un trasporto ferroviario davvero sicuro.