[TsT] has published issue 54, consisting of the special issue “The Role of the State in Railway Operations: The Cases of Italy and Spain, ” which addresses some key aspects of the role played by public railways in Spain and Italy since nationalization began. The first article, “The Vicissitudes of Spanish Railways During the Public Era (1941–2019). From Interventionism to Liberalization,” is authored by Miguel Muñoz Rubio and focuses on this Spanish public enterprise. The second article, authored by Domingo Cuéllar, “An Approach to the Study of Passenger Rail Fares at Renfe (1941–2005),” examines how Renfe has structured its passenger fares throughout its history. The second section, dedicated to Italy, consists of a first article by Michèle Merger, “The Early and Inevitable Nationalization of the Italian Railways and Its Economic Effects (1905–1915),” which addresses the nationalization of the Italian railway system. In the second article, “The State Railways (Ferrovie dello Stato – FS) in Italy: 1905–1985,” Stefano Maggi extends the chronology and examines FS through 1985.
The issue concludes with a review by Antonio Jesús Pinto Tortosa of the book by Darina Martykánová, *Engineers in Spain: The Birth of an Elite*.