RETE has brought the Trenino Bianco Azzurro case before the Council, calling on the State Congress to shed light on the cost of the work, future expenses and the planned extension to Borgo Maggiore. The movement’s leader in the Council announced the filing of a formal question following statements by Secretaries of State Matteo Ciacci and Federico Pedini Amati, who had described the extension of the line as “essential.”
“Just a few days after the inauguration of the 140 metres of the Trenino Bianco Azzurro, Secretaries of State Ciacci and Pedini Amati called the extension to Borgo Maggiore ‘essential’, with the project already under review by the State Congress,” RETE recalls, stating that it has “more than a few doubts” about the project.
The movement points in particular to a number of alleged problems in the area of the former railway station, calling for clarity. “The number of coach parking spaces at the former station has been reduced from 14 to 7. It also appears that the gradient at the exit toward the tunnel is incorrect: coaches are scraping underneath, and resurfacing of the road is reportedly already planned to fix it,” RETE claims.
According to the movement, “buses have to leave through the entrance and often end up driving against the flow of traffic, posing serious risks to road safety.” RETE also reports that double-decker buses would come into contact with the train’s overhead cables, making it necessary to cut power to allow them to pass. These are circumstances on which the movement is now demanding answers from the Government.
The formal question focuses above all on the financial side. “How much did we pay for the 140 metres just inaugurated? How much will operation and maintenance cost? Is there a plan assessing the economic return? How many people will be needed to run the train? How many visitors is it expected to bring to the historic centre?” are among the questions put to the Congress.
RETE is also asking to know the cost of a possible extension to Borgo Maggiore, how it would be funded, and how the new stretch would be integrated into the public transport system. Future staffing and maintenance costs, as well as the expected benefits for the country, are also under scrutiny.
The movement paired its requests with criticism of public spending priorities. “Children at summer camps are left sweltering without air conditioning, while work on the oncology ward has been stalled for three years and still not completed because, we are told, there isn’t enough money,” RETE states.
The closing lines of the statement were particularly sharp: “And yet, as if by magic, the money is found for a project that is futile if not outright useless, which seems to serve as an expensive little toy to satisfy the ego of spoiled children.”
Hence the request to the Government: “We have already heard plenty of triumphant statements. Now we would like something a little less spectacular and a lot more concrete: the accounts.”
