The controversial high-speed
TAV rail project between Turin and Lyon is a government priority
and Italy will join France in requesting co-financing from
European authorities in February or March, Transport Minister
Maurizio Lupi said Tuesday.
In remarks to the Lower House, Lupi also said that a
proposed bridge linking mainland Italy and Sicily may be a lower
priority but it is still seen by him as a strategic project.
Lupi recently suggested that Italy may spend 2.9 billion
euros on the TAV project, which has triggered large and
sometimes violent demonstrations by opponents who say the
project linking the two major European cities is too expensive
and environmentally damaging.
"One of the priorities of the government is the Turin-Lyon
line and I can confirm before Parliament....that France and
Italy will ask for European co-financing," said Lupi.
Supporters say TAV will cut down on automobile and truck
pollution and make shipping and transit more efficient.
The Italian and French governments have insisted that the
link will not only speed passenger and freight traffic but also
boost both countries' economies.
Meanwhile, Lupi said that other infrastructure projects,
including several transportation plans, are being funded through
the government's Unblock Italy program.
Although the bridge across the Straits of Messina is
important, at the moment improving other transportation links on
Sicily as well as between northern and southern Italy are higher
priorities, said Lupi.
"The government has no resources" to resume the stalled
suspension bridge project that would provide a "strategic link"
between Reggio Calabria and Sicily, said Lupi.
Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi pledged to build the bridge to
end Sicily's isolation but the massive project priced at 8.5
billion euros was scrapped by Mario Monti's government in 2012.
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