The “Listening Forum for gathering requests for the improvement, efficiency and development of infrastructure” is the forum for ongoing discussion between RFI, the General Directorate for Transport and Railway Infrastructures of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and the “Stakeholders” (licensed railway companies, Regions and Autonomous Provinces, Framework Agreement Holders), with a view to making decisions on the start-up of investments more efficient and plan their respective activities in a mutually supportive manner. The Listening Forum, set out in section 2.6 of the NS - Network Statement, was set up in accordance with the provisions of Rail Service Regulation Office (URSF) Decision no. 400/5 of 2013 and Italian Transport Authority (ART) Resolution no. 140/2017.

In view of ART Resolution 188/2023, the Stakeholders that can make proposals within the Listening Forum are the following:

• Regions and Autonomous Provinces;
• Subjects holding Framework Agreements with RFI;
• Railway Undertakings holding a licence;
• Trade associations representing economic operators involved in commercial, industrial and/or logistic activities related to the railway transport mode, including managers/users of junctions connected to the National Railway Infrastructure.

Every year, RFI guarantees the start of the Technical Round-Table by 30 April. Within 30 days from the start of the Listening Forum, the stakeholders involved (the "Applicants") can send their requests to RFI, supported by a documentary analysis on the actual advantages of any intervention proposed, its economic viability (costs/benefits), and the qualitative improvement of the infrastructure concerned.

Once the deadline set by the Infrastructure Manager for the submission of proposals has passed, the preliminary evaluation phase commences; its purpose is to identify those proposals that require further analysis ("subject to further study") in order to determine their possible inclusion in planning.

In compliance with the Resolution of the Transport Regulatory Authority no. 151 of 21 November 2019, by 30 January of each year, RFI shall publish on its website a final report of the analysis and evaluation process carried out on the proposals made by the stakeholders, together with the contributions submitted, and will make the documentation available for the following 5 years.

In addition, as provided for in paragraph 2.6 of the Network Statement, RFI will publish the documentation relating to the equipped areas available and service facilities for which decommissioning/conversion is planned may be consulted on the “Equipped areas” page. RFI will take into consideration the requests formulated by the participants in the Listening Forum also in relation to the aforementioned documentation.

In compliance with the Resolution of the Transport Regulatory Authority no. 227/2022 and the relevant requirement 2.3.3.1 set out in Annex A to the aforementioned Resolution, RFI will make the list of stations for which decommissioning and/or conversion to a stop with the indication of the related service facilities.