The Programme Contract

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Since our incorporation in 2001 – as a result of the Concession Act signed in 2000 between the Ministry of Transport and Ferrovie dello Stato – we have been the Single Operator of the national railway infrastructure. Subsequently, we are required to implement the plans defined with the government regarding investments for development of the infrastructure and network maintenance activities. The Programme Contract ultimately governs the economic and financial aspects of the concession relationship between us and the government.

With a minimum duration of 5 years and the possibility to update and renew even on an annual basis, the Programme Contract incorporates the planning outlined in accordance with the national and EU guidelines along with the constraints relating to the development and management of the railway infrastructure and economic-financial planning, as well as with RFI’s industrial requirements and the needs and expectations of the RUs and other stakeholders. Updates to the planning are based on studies, analyses, evaluations and projections that take into account the progress in the implementation and design of the planned interventions as well as changes to the context of reference – strategic, legislative, transport, economic and financial – whilst maintaining the safety standards for railway traffic.

Introduced into Italian law in 1987, the Programme Contract for railway infrastructure was adopted in 1991 with the signing of the 1991–1992 Programme Contract between FS and the government, followed by the “bridging” Programme Contract in December 1992 and the 1994–2000 Programme Contract signed in March 1996.

The government and RFI, established in July 2001, then signed the 2001-2005 Programme Contract, whose validity was extended to 2006 by the Inter-ministerial Committee for Economic Planning Resolution 159/2005 and, in October 2007, the 2007–2011 Programme Contract which, with the 2009 update, incorporated the new aspect introduced by the 2010 Financial Law (Law 191/2009, Article 2[232]) relating to works of high technical complexity and significant financial commitment, to be financed in “tranches” so as to allow the start-up of construction in “construction batches”, including those deemed “non-functional”.

From 2013, pursuant to CIPE Resolution no. 4/2012, the Company’s dealings with the government have no longer been administrated by a single contract but by two documents: the Investment Programme Contract and the Services Programme Contract.

For the first time, the 2021 approval process shall be completed in accordance with the procedures set out in the reform introduced by Decree Law 52/2021 and envisaged by the PNRR (Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan), which significantly accelerated the approval process for the Programme Contracts and defined the Strategic Rail Mobility Document, as the reference for passenger and freight travelling by train.

Documents download - only Italian version

The Programme Contract - Investment Section

2024 update of the 2022-2026 Program Contract - Investment part

2023 update of the 2022-2026 Program Contract - Investment part

Program Contract 2022-2026 - Investment part

The Programme Contract - Services Section

Second Supplementary Deed to the 2022-2026 Program Contract, Services part (2024 Update)

First Supplementary Deed to the 2022-2026 Program Contract, Services part (2023 Update)

Program Contract 2022-2026 - Services part

The Programme Contract - Investments (CdP-I) governs the sustainable planning of infrastructure investments relating to safety and compliance with legal obligations, traffic and efficiency technology, measures aimed at increasing the performance of existing lines, and measures aimed at new railway construction works to modernise and develop the network.

The Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Investments, which followed the new procedure set forth in Law Decree 152/2021, was approved by the CIPESS in its meeting of 02 August 2022, with resolution No. 25 published in the Official Journal on 9 November 2022, and concluded its authorisation process with the signing between MIT and RFI on 19 and 20 December 2022, respectively.

With this act, new resources amounting to approximately EUR 13 billion were contracted, which will contribute to the improvement of the performance and accessibility of rail services through:

Enhancement and safety of rail traffic by extending the use of ERTMS to the entire network. Today, the ERTMS is operational on 758 km of high-speed (HS) lines, while the first implementations on European corridors (1,500 km) are under way. The objective is to accelerate ERTMS installations on 100% of the network and the circulating fleet by 2035 - well ahead of the deadline set at European level (2050) - in order to make the Italian railway system among the most advanced in the world;
Increasing resilience to the climate crisis by strengthening the infrastructure, and increasing the energy efficiency and security, so as to anticipate potential threats from hydro-geological disruption, and cope with adverse weather events;
Improving regional, interregional networks, metropolitan city railway nodes and the development of historical lines for tourist use, i.e. 'non-domestic' railway networks with clear potential and critical issues;
Enhancing and expanding High-Speed (HS) rail, by extending HS connectivity and performance by building different infrastructures for the needs of each territory. To improve integration and accessibility between the Country's main urban areas. By accompanying the construction of new lines with measures to speed up and overcoming saturation situations, it will be possible to maximise the supply of fast north-south/east-west connections;
Improving the quality of stations, which should be enhanced as intermodal nodes and poles of attraction for the sustainable development of the territory and its mobility system. Consequently, stations must be classified not only based on the number of passengers, but also on their role in the urban and territorial context, and to analyse and define their potential as a transport node and service hub for travellers and the territory;
Improving the national logistics system by enhancing last-mile connections with airports, ports and freight terminals;
Completing the European TEN-T corridors, which require an adaptation of railway lines to European performance standards and upgrades to TEN-T networks and Alpine crossings. Indeed, to achieve the coordinated development of the European TEN-T transport network, the European Commission has adopted a 'Corridor' approach, in which 9 European Core Network Corridors have been identified, and 4 of them involve Italy;
The technological development to be implemented within all subsystems of the national railway infrastructure.

2023 Update to the Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Investments

The 2023 update to the 2022-2026 Programme Contract - Investments, which followed the procedure set forth in Law Decree 152/2021, signed on June 9, 2023 and submitted to the CIPESS on July 20, concluded its authorisation process on December 21, 2023 with registration by the Court of Auditors under No. 4052 of Decree No. 289 of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, in agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, approving the First Supplementary Act to the Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Services (2023 update).

With the 2023 Update to the CoP-I 2022-2026, new resources in the amount of EUR 5,535.98 million, provided for by specific regulatory acts and fully allocated by law to specific interventions, were contracted; in addition, a reshuffling of resources in the amount of EUR 2,502.00 million, which regarded "ordinary" state resources currently contracted in the 2022-2026 CoP-I on interventions whose planning and implementation schedules do not envisage their being contracted before the first half of 2024, in order to meet emerging financial needs related to the continuation of the activities of the projects linked to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, as well as the works assigned to the coordination of the commissioners and those considered priorities.

2024 Update to the Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Investments

The 2024 Update to the 2022-2026 Programme Contract - Investments, which followed the procedure set forth in Law Decree 152/2021, signed on May 30, 2024 and submitted to the CIPESS on the same date, concluded its authorisation process on November 12, 2024 with registration by the Court of Auditors under No. 3901 of Inter-ministerial No. 235 of 20 September 2024, of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, in agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, approving the First Supplementary Act to the Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Services (2024 update).

With the 2024 Update of the CoP-I 2022-2026, a net balance of resources of EUR 3,534.57 million (EUR +7,623.26 million in new resources and EUR -4,088.69 million of defunding) was contracted, bringing the value of the financed ongoing works from EUR 124,570.39 million in the 2023 Update to EUR 127,739.02 million. The resources are mainly earmarked for ongoing works, and the continuation of programmes relating to safety, technological development and the Stations Plan.

The Programme Contract - Services (CdP-S) regulates the funding of ordinary and extraordinary maintenance activities on the Network, aimed at guaranteeing its usability under safe and reliable conditions, and the funding of other management charges related to railway operations (traffic, safety, security, railway navigation) and PRM assistance services.

The main subject of the CdP-S is governing the way maintenance activities on the national railway network are funded, for the following work types:

"Ordinary", (aimed at containing the normal degradation of the infrastructure within the expected life cycle of the technical objects into which the infrastructure is articulated, and of first intervention);
"Extraordinary" (aimed renewing/replacing subsystem components or entire subsystems, thus increasing the asset value and improving its reliability, productivity, efficiency and safety).

The Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Services, which followed the new procedure set forth in Law Decree 152/2021, was approved by the CIPESS in its meeting of 02 August 2022, with resolution No. 24 published in the Official Journal on 9 November 2022, and concluded its authorisation process with the signing between MIT and RFI on 19 and 20 December 2022, respectively.

The new agreement plans medium-term activities, and targets the resources allocated by the 2022 Budget Law on investments for extraordinary maintenance, amounting to EUR 5.1 billion, and resources for operation and routine maintenance activities, amounting to approximately EUR 1 billion per year for the three-year period 2022-2024.

The Contract also provides for some new elements, including the strengthening of the network maintenance level, by expanding the scope of maintenance activities, following the inclusion of specific recurring intervention schedules concerning some of the activities included in the CdP - Investments, and the criteria for assessing the environmental, economic and social sustainability of the interventions, in addition to the necessary safety and resilience standards of the national railway infrastructure.

First Supplementary Act to the Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Services (2023 Update)

The First Supplementary Act to the Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Services, which followed the procedure set forth in Law Decree 152/2021, signed on June 9, 2023 and submitted to the CIPESS on July 20, concluded its authorisation process on December 22, 2023 with registration by the Court of Auditors under No. 4051 of Decree No. 292 of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, in agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, approving the First Supplementary Act to the Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Services (2023 update).

The new agreement transposes:

The increase of resources set forth in the Budget Law 2023 by EUR 2,800 million, for extraordinary network maintenance programmes;
The increase in resources of EUR 5.68 million for provision of the passenger maritime connection service, on the Reggio Calabria-Messina Line (and vice versa) carried out in the period 01/10/2022-30/09/2023.

Second Supplementary Act to the Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Services (2024 Update)

The Second Supplementary Act to the Program Contract 2022-2026 - Services, which followed the procedure set forth in Law Decree 152/2021, signed on 1 August 2024 and submitted to the CIPESS on the same date, concluded its authorisation process on 3 November 2024 with registration by the Court of Auditors under No. 3859 of Inter-ministerial Decree No. 248 of 7 October 2024 of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, in agreement with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, approving the Second Supplementary Act of the Programme Contract 2022-2026 - Services (2024 update).

The Second Supplementary Act transposes:

The contractualisation of additional resources amounting to EUR 2,397 million, for extraordinary maintenance, including 2,073 million for the 2025 funding under the so-called DL Superbonus, and EUR 150 million for Network Management Activities, including EUR 50 million for the year 2023 and EUR 100 million for the year 2026;
Termination, on 30 September 2023, of RFI’s temporary performance of the passenger-only fast public maritime transport services, between the ports of Messina and Reggio Calabria and vice versa, following the award of the service to a new contractor.