Mont Blanc Tunnel, agreement reached between Italy and France: “No closure”. Paris: “Stop trains at Frejus for at least two months”
ROME. The decision has arrived. After a further inspection and another assessment of the Frejus situation, the Ministry of Transport announced the postponement of the closure of the Mont Blanc tunnel for scheduled maintenance work. «The deputy prime minister and minister Matteo Salvini had a new moment of update with his French colleague Clement Beaune on the situation at Frejus. The Ministers shared the opportunity to avoid, at least at this stage, the closure of the Mont Blanc Tunnel whose work is scheduled from 4 September to 18 December” we read in a note.
The landslide
The landslide in Haute-Savoie which three days ago led to the blockade of the Frejus is causing the connections between Italy and France to go haywire and the closure of the Mont Blanc crossing would have ended up paralyzing all the communication routes, apart from that of Ventimiglia, and it is no coincidence that the presidents of Piedmont and Val D’Aosta had launched appeals to postpone the maintenance work scheduled starting from Monday.
The pressing
The pressure from the interested Regions and economic operators was strong. During the works in the Mont Blanc tunnel, it was calculated, 90% of the heavy traffic would have been diverted towards the Frejus which should absorb 90% of the heavy traffic and this gives an idea of the situation that would be created with a simultaneous closure of the two passes. Alberto Cirio, president of Piedmont, was clear: «It is completely clear, also in light of what is happening in these hours, that Piedmont cannot accept solutions that contemplate the simultaneous closure of the two transalpine crossings. We hope that the discussion between Italy and France on this issue will lead to sustainable solutions: it is unthinkable that the Mont Blanc tunnel will close before the landslide in Savoy is resolved and it is therefore possible to reopen the Frejus to heavy traffic.” Today the announcement: everything postponed.
Paris, «Stop trains at Fréjus for at least two months»
«On the railway plan we must be very clear, there are several additional stages. You must first of all have access to the Fréjus tunnel, “and it is not currently possible to do so in complete safety. Then it will be necessary to evaluate the implementation of safety measures for the works. Therefore, it will certainly not be possible to re-establish railway circulation for several weeks, at least for two months. We need to say it from today.” Thus the French Transport Minister, Clément Beaune, told reporters.
This article is originally published on lastampa.it
