Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali

The Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali was an Italian railway company established in 1862, led by Count Pietro Bastogi of Livorno, to build a railway from Ancona to Brindisi, which it completed by 1865 before expanding with additional routes across southern Italy. In 1885 the company absorbed the Rete Adriatica, significantly extending its operations into central and northern Italy, and by 1882 it operated 231 locomotives, 645 passenger cars and 3,965 freight cars. The Italian state nationalized the company in two stages, absorbing the Rete Adriatica into Ferrovie dello Stato in 1905 and the remainder of the company's lines in 1906, ending its independent operation.