Rail traffic along the historic line between Italy and France has been blocked since 27 August by a landslide in Haute-Savoie, and despite forecasts repairs will take much longer. According to the French railways and the Governor of Savoy, Francois Ravier, the restoration work, originally planned for November, will not be finished before the summer of 2024.
No Frecciarossa and TGV between Milan and Paris for a year
The impact of the closure of the Frejus line can be easily verified: the only affordable solution to get from Italy to France by train would require travel times of almost a day, given that available itineraries are limited to the Ventimiglia pass. with Austria and Switzerland.
Thus, the blockade of Tgv and Frecciarossa and the 170 weekly freight trains active on the historical Frejus line are added to the expected closure of the Mont Blanc motorway tunnel from 16 October to 18 December.
If it is easy to foresee serious repercussions for the region with a significant increase in road transport and the resulting traffic congestion on Alpine highways, it is the President of the Italian Road Transport Federation, Paolo Uggè, who raises the alarm about the risk of isolation. ‘It will have serious economic repercussions for Italy. In fact, our country finds itself increasingly isolated from the rest of the continent.
Is Austria closing the Brenner Pass?
Let’s start with the Brenner Pass, through which approximately 2.4 million trucks pass every year, over 50 million tons of goods, 70% of the trade between Italy and the countries of the European Union. In the wake of the new migration crisis, Austria has intensified checks and monitoring at crossings after approving restrictions and restrictions on the passage of trucks for 2024.
The Gotthard crossing with Switzerland is permanently closed for maintenance, and since August 10 the tunnel connecting Lombardy with Switzerland and Germany has been closed for more than a month due to intermittent freight trains along the Alptransit system. The Mont Blanc tunnel, which allows 10 million tons of goods to pass between France and France annually, will have to be closed for urgent maintenance, even if the total blockade has been postponed for now.
“The restart of the infrastructure is essential if we do not want the goods produced and converted in our companies to remain in the shipyard,” says the president of Fai-Conftrasporto. “China with the Silk Road, seeing that past governments have accepted this hypothesis, is only a confirmation of the strategic importance of the issue of transport for the development of a country’s economy.” The infrastructure deficit will cost $93 billion in 2022, or 15% of exports, according to data from trade associations. Now the situation may get worse.
Transport Minister Matteo Salvini explains: “I will be at the Brenner Pass on Monday because Austria is unilaterally, inexplicably, arrogantly and contrary to all European regulations blocking the passage of Italian entrepreneurs and trucks.” “It fits into the road map for both TAV Torino-Lyon and the Brenner tunnel.”
Source: Today IT

Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.