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“Mont Blanc with the double tunnel, the TAV is not enough”
Double tunnel for Mont Blanc: there is also this dossier, “vital for the future of the North West”, on the agenda of the deputy prime minister and foreign minister Antonio Tajani. Tajani speaks to ‘La Stampa’ about the “Italian proposal”, which Paris does not seem enthusiastic about. “It’s true – he declares – they are hesitant about the need to build a second tunnel tube and this is why on 25 September I will be in France and will meet the Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna. We are convinced that she is needed and we will have to convince them”. Meanwhile, he explains, “There is a question of safety: the current tunnel is small, narrow, and in the event of an accident we would be forced to close it for who knows how many days. Then there is a broader issue of the “transport system” which it involves both countries. We must make the French understand that they too would benefit from the modernization of this infrastructure.”
“With France we have trade of 111.2 billion euros, up 20% compared to the previous year. In 2022 there were 4.6 million French people who decided to come to our country, and many arrived through the Alpine tunnels. We must therefore avoid paralyzing the border with France if one of the tunnels remains closed. Let’s look at the current situation in Frejus: the tunnel is temporarily closed to heavy vehicles due to the risk of landslides and if Mont Blanc had also been closed for scheduled maintenance work, we would have risked isolating the entire North West”. Danger averted, he assures : “with the French we have agreed to postpone the extraordinary maintenance of the Mont Blanc tunnel until 2024, when the doubling of the Frejus tunnel will be active”.
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