L’AQUILA – 6000 trips and 100,000 passengers every year (for an average of 16 passengers per trip) which generate revenues of hundreds of thousands of euros to which must be added the generous regional contributions for public transport which are essential to keep the Tourist Center of the Gran Sasso. Money that the company, 100% owned by the Municipality of L’Aquila, will have to give up at least for the next 12 months in the most optimistic view. In the pessimistic one the times are already extended to 18 months and perhaps beyond.
The cable car has been closed since May 1st. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, through the National Agency for the Safety of Railways and Road and Motorway Infrastructures (Ansfisa) which controls wire transport, has prescribed, after checks triggered following a complaint from a citizen, the replacement of four supporting cables of the cable car.
For the moment, the Municipality’s attempts to appeal against the Agency’s decisions have been in vain, the TAR has confirmed the provision while awaiting the decision of the Council of State to which the Municipality has decided to turn anyway.
In the meantime, at the end of April, the Municipality took action. With an amendment approved unanimously in the city council they were allocated 4 million euros to cover the cost of replacing the ropes the cost of which, however, is still uncertain.
Also at the end of April the Municipality of L’Aquila ordered the activation of a replacement transport service which seems more aimed at not losing the regional contribution of the TPL than at guaranteeing an effective service for the tourist who would have to pay eight euros to get on an AMA bus at Fonte Ferrero, the other municipal subsidiary to which the service was entrusted , to reach the summit in about forty minutes versus seven by cable car. Furthermore, these are just a few daily trips for a few dozen potential travelers considering that you can only travel seated on Ama buses.
The issue of the replacement service also has a negative impact on the budget of the CTGS which, in addition to losing the proceeds from the cable car, could also lose that for the mileage of the TPL. An assignment that has made many people turn up their noses and question not only its effectiveness, could it be entrusted to companies specializing in tourist transport?, but also the process, given that there is a service contract in place between the Municipality and Ctgs which identifies the latter as a concessionaire and therefore the person who should organize the replacement service.
He was the city councilor Paolo Romano to explain this doubt yesterday in a note of solidarity with the workers signed together with his colleague Lorenzo Rotellini: “The council resolution no. 186 of last April 30th, however, will be the tombstone of the Gran Sasso Tourist Center as we have known it. In fact, we believe that we do not have the courage to admit a plan that concerns the definitive merger of the CTGS with Ama and a merger of the TpL of the two companies: but this plan, sudden and unguided, not only will not resolve the critical issues of the cable car, but will cause the financial statements of the investee company to default irremediably. At the moment, by merging the two TpL, a good 200 thousand euros are being deducted from the already suffering budget of the CTGS, without yet having a strategy on the future employment of the Company’s employees.“
The future of workers
The unknowns about the future exacerbate existing concerns, starting with future of the workers of the Gran Sasso Tourist Center who yesterday went on strike and staged a protest at the Fontana Luminosa in front of the Infopoint managed by the company. The CTGS, in addition to the cable car, also manages the Campo Imperatore facilities, two Infopoints and five accommodation facilities, almost all of which are closed for one reason or another. It is difficult if not impossible in these conditions to meet personnel expenses. In addition to seasonal workers, who are used in the winter period and who evidently won’t be needed for a long time, who are without anything in their hands, tools will also need to be activated to safeguard the positions of other employees, who are also redundant.
Yesterday, the unions present at the demonstration were there CGIL, UIL and UGL, reiterated the proposals already made the day before at the union meeting. Municipality and corporate governance are asked for a formula for re-employ staff in other companies owned by the Municipality waiting for the CTGS to resume its normal activities.
The problems of related industries
In addition to the Democratic Party which expressed its solidarity in a note, some also supported the workers tourist operators. Yesterday they showed up at the garrison worried about the future of the related industries, the other great unknown in this matter.
There was a moment in which the area seemed to have understood the importance of summer tourism for the development of Gran Sasso which, with its natural beauty, represents an incredible tourist actor for the entire L’Aquila area. It happened during the pandemic when Italians rediscovered the value of the mountains. There wasn’t even time to reflect that, once the pandemic was over, the Gran Sasso effectively found itself at a standstill.
Many, mostly young people, have invested in Gran Sasso in recent years and it was born a diversified tourist offer, deseasonalized and capable of attracting quality and aware tourism. But it is as if it did not exist in the political and institutional debate. The city seems anchored to a century-old vision of the mountains. There is little attention to the changes in tourism today as well as to the climatic changes which for decades have also affected the Gran Sasso where once upon a time people also skied in Montecristo.
As they could explain in the nearby Campo Imperatore astronomical observatory, when stars die, they can become black holes and their gravitational force ends up sucking all the bodies into the event horizon. The CTGS and the cable car continue to cannibalize resources to find themselves back at the starting point every time.
It is precisely the operators who are asking for a change of mentality and who are starting to organize themselves in the meantime. TO Camarda, in a first meeting with many of them, there was an important discussion. The proposals went well beyond the cable car yes, cable car no debate. Professionals and businesses want to participate in the choices. They ask for policies to promote the Gran Sasso, which are completely absent today, programming and planning, and certain rules on access to the mountains. For politics, never before, is the time to give answers.
