“We understand the fear of inconvenience but no to bell tower politics”

IVREA

“The fears expressed by the Ivrea city council are understandable, but a purely selfish reasoning based only on hardships risks being too limiting.” The Aosta Valley policy takes a position in favor of electrification of the Ivrea-Aosta railway section and takes note of what is happening in the city without, however, seeking direct confrontation.

«It is completely understandable that Ivrea expresses criticism of the two construction sites planned in the city, which will cause problems in road traffic for a rather long period – explain the regional councilors of the progressive civic project, Chiara Minelli and Erika Guichardaz -. It is therefore logical that he asks for corrections to the organization of the construction sites or any compensation. But Ivrea, which in the past in 2006, fought for the electric traction line to arrive from Chivasso to Ivrea, knows well that it cannot make a selfish and parochial reasoning and think only of the momentary inconvenience in its city traffic ».

«The inconveniences for such an important work will be there for everyone, in Ivrea and in the Aosta Valley – they continue – but they are the necessary condition to carry out a fundamental work. Electrification will be an advantage for the Aosta Valley, but also for the whole of the Eporediese and the Canavese because it will allow more capacious trains to serve the entire territory, overcoming the current inconveniences that users suffer. In fact, the Ivrea Railway Users’ Association and the Ivrea Legambiente have expressed themselves in favor of electrification ».

Above all, the Valle d’Aosta League ends up under attack “which has always fought against electrification by opposing it in every way”. “The League proposes to consider the funding obtained, especially thanks to environmentalists, as a negative result – continue Minelli and Guichardaz – and would like to continue to travel the bimodals that pollute, are few, underpowered and that create obvious inconvenience as reported by commuters. Other than decarbonisation: in a region that has large quantities of hydroelectric energy, clean and locally produced, they want to continue to run the trains powered by fossil fuels from which we must free ourselves. A vision in contrast with all the indications of railway policy at all levels that recommend the electrification of the lines wherever it is possible to realize them ».

And again: “The League’s action is reckless and contrary to the interest of the Aosta Valley community, a saboteur action that we believe will not lead to any results, because the inclusion of the electrification of the Ivrea-Aosta section in the Pnrr means not only the financing of the work, but also the adoption of quick and safe procedures for the realization of a work considered to be of national and European interest ».

“The electrification of the Ivrea-Aosta railway section is a fundamental modernization and ecological transition project envisaged by a regional law unanimously approved in 2016, by the Region-RFI Framework Agreement of 2017 and by the Strategic Program of interventions on the railway approved by the Valle d’Aosta Regional Council in 2019 – conclude the two regional councilors -. It will allow to reduce pollution by replacing diesel trains with electric traction, to have the availability of a large number of trains and of all sizes, to arrive from any Italian city to Aosta, without changes or complicated operations, will fully insert the railway Aosta Valley in the Italian and European railway network. Now the work is about to be built, the final project has been approved, there is funding from the NRP and there is an authorization procedure that also allows objections and obstacles to be quickly overcome ». –