Mr Gentile, let’s give our readers a quick overview of RFI’s activity today, starting with the Act of Concession between the Italian government and the FS Group and the Programme Contract that governs relations regarding investments.

In Ministerial Decree 138T of 31 October 2000 the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport identified Ferrovie dello Stato as the Manager of the national railway infrastructure. The Act of Concession has a 60-year duration starting from when the decree issue. The economic and financial aspects of the concession relationship between the Rail Infrastructure Manager and the state are governed by the “Programme Contract”. The Programme Contract between the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the Concessionaire identifies the mutual obligations and governs the ways the state finances the maintenance and management of railway infrastructure and investments. Between 1991 and 2000, FS entered into three Programme Contracts with the State. The following year, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana was set up and assumed exclusive responsibility as sole Manager of the national railway infrastructure. In the ensuing years, RFI entered into the 2001-2005 Programme Contract and the 2007-2011 Contract. The Programme Contract was then split into separate acts: Services and Investments. Since 2012, in compliance with the Interdepartmental Committee for Economic Planning (CIPE) Decision No. 4/2012, both ordinary and extraordinary maintenance have been regulated by a distinct Services Programme Contract. The first of  these was signed for the 2012-2014 period and was also aimed at managing safety, security and navigation activities (remember that RFI also provides “territorial continuity” with Sicily by means of its ships and daily ferry service across request, with Sardinia).

by Franco Tanel – photo FS Italiane