• the safe and secure management of railway traffic, including through manning the train control and command systems,
   

• the maintenance of the efficiency of the national railway infrastructure so that it is fully usable by Transport Companies, through ordinary and extraordinary maintenance work, which since 2014 have been governed, together with safety, security and railway navigation to Sicily and Sardinia, by the Programme Contract - services part signed between RFI, in its capacity as manager of the national railway infrastructure, and the government,
   

• the planning and implementation of investments for upgrading existing infrastructure and its technological equipment, as well as developing and constructing, including through the investee companies, new railway lines and facilities, in accordance with the programme defined with the government through the specific Planning Contract - investment part,
   

• the annual definition of the railway timetable on the basis of requests from Passenger and Freight Railway Undertakings, in accordance with the rules set out in the Network Statement (NS), the official document the Infrastructure Manager provides to its direct customers indicating the criteria, procedures, methods and deadlines for the allocation of infrastructure capacity and for the provision of related services,
   

• the physiological and physical suitability assessment of staff – both their own staff and that of railway undertakings and other transport operators – engaged in activities connected with the safety of train circulation and railway operations, as well as with the safety of public transport by sea and land,
   

• the accessibility of stations and the services offered within them to travellers and, in general, to all users, in accordance with the principles and core values that inspire RFI's relations with customers and the public,
   

• in-station assistance to Persons with Reduced Mobility in accordance with the role of Station Manager assumed by the Company since December 2010 in accordance with EC Regulation 1371/2007 on "Rail passengers’ rights and obligations”, 
   

• the usability of the freight terminals owned by the Company, including through the integrated offer of access to infrastructure and last mile railway services provided through the subsidiary Terminali Italia, active in 2015 with a 16-terminal network covering the whole of Italy,
   

• maritime links to ensure rail services can be continued to Sicily, provided on a continuous basis by ferrying passenger and goods trains between Villa San Giovanni and Messina, and to Sardinia, carried out exclusively at the request of the railway companies for goods trains or service transport;

 

• the integration of the Italian network into the trans-European transport networks according to the plans and standards defined at supranational level and according to the programmes carried out together with foreign infrastructure managers, also within the framework of European Economic Interest Groupings (EEIG), for the interoperability of the networks and the development of freight corridors.

 

Since our incorporation in July 2001 in accordance with our Articles of Association, we have been managing the national railway infrastructure under the terms of the Concession Act. The Act was issued by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MIT) under Ministerial Decree No. 138T of 31 October 2000.

The responsibilities and obligations of the Infrastructure Manager are now governed, in addition to the Concession Act itself, by Legislative Decree No. 112 of 15 July 2015, which transposed Directive 2012/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 (the so-called "recast directive") in Italy.

The relationship between the government and the Railway Infrastructure Manager is governed by two Programme Contracts entered into between the MIT and RFI, one relating to maintenance, security and navigation services, the other relating to investments for the development of the network.

The relations between the Manager and the customers (railway undertakings, regions and other stakeholders with a public or economic interest in providing transport services) are regulated by the Network Statement, a document that defines the conditions of access to the infrastructure. The Statement is updated annually after consulting with stakeholders and on the basis of any requirements and instructions issued by the governing body. In Italy, this body is the Italian Transport Authority (ART) whose responsibilities in the rail sector are regulated in article 37 of Law 214/2011.

With regard to railway safety, under Legislative Decree 162/2007 some of the responsibilities previously carried out by the MIT and RFI have been transferred to the two bodies set up by the same decree: the Investigation Body (DGFEMA) and the National Agency for Railway Safety (ANSF). The latter recognised and granted us the Safety Authorisation, the document certifying that the National Railway Infrastructure Manager's Safety Management System complies with European Regulation 1169/2010. The Presidential Decree no. 753 of 11 July 1980, which also covers other guided transport systems (tramways, underground railways, cable cars, etc.), is still a point of reference for safety, police and regularity of railway operations.

Pursuant to EC Regulation 1371/2007 on "passengers' rights and obligations in rail transport", we have taken on the role of station manager, under which we also provide assistance services at stations for passengers with disabilities and reduced mobility.