The Società per le strade ferrate della Sicilia, better known as Rete Sicula (Sicilian Network) was a company for the construction and operation of the railway lines of Sicily.
The Palermo - Marsala - Trapani line came into operation on 5 June 1881 by the Società della Ferrovia Sicula Occidentale.
From 1901 to 1905 the engineer Riccardo Bianchi was the general director of the company In November 1893, the company was given the concession for navigation by steam through the Strait of Messina, with the obligation to make two daily ferry trips between Messina and Reggio Calabria.
Two daily ferry trips to Villa San Giovanni were established at the time of completion of the Southern Tyrrhenian Railway.
In 1894 the company ordered a pair of ferry-boats, with paddle drive and steam engines, which entered service at the end of 1896 as train ferries.