• The Transalpine, a rail link between Lyon and Turin, was designed in 1992 to transport passengers and goods in a 270 km tunnel, valued at 9 billion euros.

  • The project would provide jobs in regions (Maurienne and Piedmont) affected by unemployment, while cleaning up and relieving congestion on certain roads.

  • But the cumulative delay, mainly due to a lack of unity between too many players in France and Italy, risks losing European funding.

“I would like to see this project completed in my lifetime!

Iveta Radicova begs with a smile, but her frustration is palpable.

The European coordinator of the Transalpine despairs of seeing the construction site of her career finally progress.

“20 years late is enough.

Look how fast China is building its connection to Europe!

Let's show that we can do better than the Chinese.

»

This Tuesday, a general meeting met at the Lyon Convention Center to take stock of the Transalpine.

To date, it is the largest European low-carbon mobility infrastructure project for passengers and goods.

It comprises three sections: a French section (140 km between Lyon and Saint-Jean-de-Maurianne), a cross-border section (65 km between Saint-Jean de Maurienne and Bussoleno, in Piedmont) and an Italian section (65 km between Val di Susa and Turin).

Originally an economically promising project

The project, imagined in 1992 and valued at 9 billion euros, received significant funding from the EU.

However, it accumulates delays due to administrative red tape – the project is the responsibility of the French and Italian States -, different budgetary procedures, different contracting authorities.

Not to mention the silence of the railway operators, this desynchronization between the two countries marks different issues in regions – Maurienne and Piedmont – affected by high unemployment, and where such a project would be a source of jobs.

The Italian section is currently digging its access roads to the tunnel.

“We were slowed down, but we were able to catch up.

“says Marco Gabusi, assessor in charge of transport in Piedmont.

“This corridor would bring many opportunities for our region, which remained a bit marginal.

A mountain separated us;

with the Transalpine, this will no longer be the case.

The economic aspect is certainly important, but we also have to bring people together.

»

The state urged to create a structure to unify decisions

On the French side, the slowdown is close to neutral: the French access roads are still not traced.

Grégory Doucet, mayor of Lyon, even opposed the project, pleading for the renovation of a line dating from the 19th century.

However, the Transalpine has an ecological aim: it would facilitate the modal shift from road to rail, thus improving air quality and reducing road saturation in certain sectors.

The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region supports the project.

The problem is therefore to bring together the French players in a project that has too many participants, without reaching any decision.

While the Italian government has appointed a commissioner for the project, Jacques Gounon, president of the committee for the Transalpine, therefore pleads to “coordinate the many stakeholders.

We would therefore like the State to create a public structure that brings together all the parties concerned, to coordinate them and finally move forward.

It is imperative that this is before the end of 2022.”

Otherwise, the Transalpine would lose European funding.

Any further delay would also jeopardize the technical realization of the line, and would ruin the ecological ambitions of the program.

“We are too slow for high speed,” laments Iveta Radicova.

The cross-border tunnel should be delivered in 2030: "It's time to speed up, otherwise it will be too late", she warns.

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