the interview
twelve o’clock, December 8, 2021 – 09:08
Enrico Giovannini, Minister of Transport, explains his plan for the South. More rails, less asphalt and greater attention to climate issues
from Maddalena Tulanti
By 2026, the year in which the money from the Pnrr (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) must be spent, the “iron cure” must have changed the face of Puglia. We talked about it with Enrico Giovannini, economist, minister of sustainable infrastructure and mobility.
First of all, Minister Giovannini, what exactly does the “iron cure” consist of?
“It means increasing the percentage of passengers and freight transported on the railways compared to those carried by road. A fundamental program if we want to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 in order to reach “carbon neutrality” by 2050, ie net carbon dioxide emissions equal to zero. We are talking about the Green Deal, which we will have to achieve through the ambitious “Fit for 55” climate package ».
So let’s start from the Adriatic, the Bologna-Lecce railway line, recently financed with a new investment of 5 billion in addition to the 350 million planned in 2013. The works of which, to be honest we must remember, are only partially completed to date. What is the purpose of strengthening this line?
«First of all, it will improve the quality of life of people and the competitiveness of businesses. Because speeding up the Bologna-Lecce railway line will have a double effect: for trains carrying passengers, a significant reduction in travel times will be obtained, at least one hour, while for freight trains, bottlenecks will be eliminated by increasing their capacity to transporting a quantity of goods much higher than the current one from the main Apulian ports to the North. The connection between Taranto and Brindisi will also be strengthened ».
What was thought instead for Bari? At what point is the connection with Naples?
«Once the works are completed, the Naples-Bari section, whose construction sites are already open, will pass to 2 hours from the current 4 with change in Caserta, while we will arrive in Rome from Bari in 3 hours instead of the current 4 hours and 10. The intervention is divided into various projects. These include the construction of a variant on the current Naples-Cancello line for 15.5 kilometers passing through the Naples-Afragola high-speed station, doubling the line between Cancello and Frasso Telesino and Frasso Telesino-Vitulano for 46 kilometers; that, for about 47 kilometers, of the Apice-Orsara line, of which 80% in tunnels; and that of the Orsara-Bovino section. And the new station of “Hirpinia” will be born. At the end of all the operations, 25 level crossings will have been eliminated ».
And for the rest of the capitals? What has been thought of to connect Bari to Basilicata and Calabria.
«For connections with Basilicata, the Battipaglia – Metaponto – Taranto route will be strengthened, with a reduction in travel times on the Taranto-Naples section of about 30 minutes, also thanks to the Salerno-Reggio Calabria high-speed connection project. For connections with Calabria, the Ionian line will be strengthened, in particular the Taranto-Metaponto-Sibari section, which then continues to Paola on the Tyrrhenian line and constitutes the connecting corridor between the port of Gioia Tauro and the Adriatic route “.
There is also a problem with the internal link to the region. How will the regional lines be strengthened?
«The new works will change the life of the Apulians. For example, 17 pairs of trains will be in service between Bitritto-Bari-Adelfia per day. While a new station is planned for the Bari-Lamasinata line with direct connection to the national network passing through the Adriatic line and the re-commissioning of the loading-unloading terminals in the Bari-Ferruccio areas. As well as interventions to upgrade and modernize the other regional lines, not managed by the Italian railway network, such as the Apulo-Lucane railways, those of the South-East, with the strengthening of the Taranto-Bari connection, the construction of intermodal hubs and the improvement of the Bari Nord railways, for which the doubling of the Andria-Barletta section is also expected ».
December 8, 2021 | 09:08
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