Riccardo Bianchi

He did his studies and earned a degree in engineering in Turin and then gained practical experience in the railway workshops in Bologna where he obtained an industrial technical diploma.

Bianchi studied an easier mechanism and devised a hydrodynamic command and control system using water mixed with glycerin which he patented on 18 September 1883.

In 1885, the SFAI became part of Rete Mediterranea and in 1891 Bianchi was appointed head of the Maintenance and Works Department and, in 1900, Director of the Movement and Traffic Service.

The problem of shortage of rolling stock was tackled head-on, thanks to huge financing obtained from the Government for thousands of wagons and carriages, as well as new classes of technologically advanced steam locomotives.

In just one year, he managed to acquire or build 567 locomotives, 1,244 coaches and 20,623 freight wagons, in one of the greatest improvement efforts ever seen in the history of Italian infrastructure.

His management style was sometimes controversial but this was justified by the fact that a large national enterprise had been established from nothing and he had to face significant problems of amalgamation and unification among the employees.

Appointed Senator of the Kingdom on 23 February 1917, he was called to hold the post of Minister for Maritime Transport and Railways on 16 June 1917, but resigned on 14 May 1918.