L’AQUILA – “We are happy for our friends on the coast! After nine years from the historic ‘Pact for the connectivity of the Adriatic’ (2016), the Adriatic backbone line has finally been included among the European strategic transport networks (TEN-T), so Abruzzo will be part of the ‘Baltic Corridor Adriatic’.
What does it mean? It means a lot for the metropolitan city of Pescara which enters the ‘European Network of Urban Nodes’, and this entails new funding for the development of transport from an intermodal perspective. To improve the integration of road/rail/ship transport, Ortona also enters the Ten-T network with the characteristics of a first level terminal.
In short, all is well for the coastal areas: the Adriatic will be able to count on modern, high-capacity and high-speed infrastructure, all good things for establishing solid and lasting growth in the territories crossed.
But there is a but… Abruzzo is not just the coast and the regional government, chatter aside, has completely forgotten the regional capital”. Thus in a note the City Councilors of L’Aquila Gianni Padovani and Enrico Verini.
They continue: “In fact, L’Aquila, in the deafening silence of the city administration, has been totally excluded from the Ten-T networks and is officially cut off from the large flows of goods and passengers that will cross the continent in the coming decades. The regional government has committed itself, and with great delay, to the Adriatic route, abandoning the hypothesis, also included in its mandate programme, of creating the new “Corridor V” Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Abruzzo, Croatia… and from there towards the promising eastern markets.
Even the Rome-Pescara railway, at this point, no longer makes any sense, as the Barcelona / Civitavecchia / Rome / Internal areas / Pescara corridor no longer exists in European programmes; it is no coincidence that the resources allocated by the government will only allow the construction of the Pescara-Manoppello interport railway section, serving the future high-capacity Adriatic line. Without connectivity there is no development, yet the Regional Council and the L’Aquila Administration have shown no interest in the development of the internal areas, now condemned to marginalisation, abandonment, slow decline and progressive depopulation.
Marsilio and Biondi demonstrate that they care about all of Abruzzo: the European networks are decided now, they can be reviewed and amended, and now is the time for a collective commitment, now that L’Aquila and the internal areas are excluded. Discussing individual pieces of infrastructure, as has been done in recent weeks, whether to go through Avezzano or L’Aquila or Capracotta, is at this point completely useless, instrumental, a misleading smoke screen”.
“The regional capital has been mocked (remember the hydrogen train?), it loses connectivity as it is marginalized from the major European mobility guidelines. Nor are we catching up in the field of new information technologies as large areas of the L’Aquila area also lack advanced connectivity services, also due to the Administration’s delays in making the intelligent tunnel operational. For the internal areas there is no heavy infrastructure (roads and railways) and no interconnection line between L’Aquila and the railway network, neither in Carsoli nor in Tagliacozzo, nor in Antrodoco to connect the Rieti/Passo Corese and from there towards Rome. Not only is there no real connection project for L’Aquila, but there aren’t even the resources; on the other hand we have had many promises from the Region and Municipality and a flood of press releases”.
“Here it is not a question of right or left, here we are playing with the future of L’Aquila and of the vast area of which L’Aquila is the central location. This is why we invite politicians of all colors and citizens to team up on the strategic theme of connectivity, overcoming bell towers, logics of belonging and jealousies to contribute to a non-negotiable common good in moments like this in which a few decide the fate of all, while those who should defend L’Aquila are silently assisting and at this point complicit”, conclude the city councilors.
