'The tender for about 50 trains will be launched in July or September,' Moretti said, speaking to foreign correspondents in Milan.

Moretti said the tender could be interesting for groups like Finmeccanica SpA unit AnsaldoBreda and Siemens.

The high-speed train link between Milan and Bologna will open on December 14 this year while the Milan-Rome link will be ready in December 2009, he said.

'When the Milan-Rome link is ready we intend to run trains every 15 minutes,' Moretti said.

Analysts said the existence of a high-speed train link between Rome and Milan could alleviate concerns that a possible merger of Alitalia SpA and AirOne could create antitrust problems on the Milan-Rome route.

Since 1995, around 50 billion euros have been invested in building Italy's high-speed train network, Moretti said.

The CEO said FS intends to compete for routes in Europe when international passenger services are fully liberalised in 2010.

'We have to internationalise the group,' he said.

To help generate cash, the state-owned FS intends to take steps to extract full value from its real estate portfolio, Moretti said.

He confirmed the group is currently reviewing its high-speed passenger business with a view to creating a unit that can be listed on the stock market.

'We'll have to bring on board an equity partner to help lighten the contribution we'll have to make,' he said but gave no timeframe for any listing.

Asked about operating results, Moretti said FS could break-even this year, 18 months ahead of schedule.

He said the group currently spends around 300 million euros in interest payments on the group's 9 billion euro debt.