15.08 – Wednesday 19 June 2024
Live streaming by: Opinione news agency (video footage: Maurizio Daldon)
1) President Girardi, for the “Transdolomites Association” what does it mean today to be protagonists of rail mobility for the Avisio valleys?
2) After the approval of the “Feasibility study of the Avisio valley railway”, what will be the next evolutionary stages of the project?
3) In which future context could the Avisio Railway fit in as a line for local transport and a connection tool with Europe?
(The following text is taken entirely from the press note sent to the Opinion Agency) –
Transdolomites press conference Wednesday 19 June 2024 at 3.00 pm, Hotel America conference room, Via Torre Verde 50 – Trento. The railway enters the history of the Avisio valleys, Trentino and the Dolomites.
The path in the direction of the project idea for a railway that connects Trento to Penia di Canazei via Val di Cembra, Fiemme and Fassa takes its cue in 2009 in the wake traced by Metroland whose noble thought was to connect the suburbs of Trentino via rail with the city of Trento.
The spirit of Metroland was noble, aiming to connect the suburbs of Trentino with Trento and vice versa but with a vision that envisaged the majority of connections in tunnels. A repositioning of his original vision was needed and the opportunity presented itself in 2009 through a study commissioned by Qnex of Bolzano which brought to light the first design idea for the Avisio Railway with the Swiss approach of railway as a service of widespread mobility in the valleys serving the towns, intermodal with the ski lifts, connected to the international network becoming an offshoot of the Brenner railway and the Scandinavian-Mediterranean corridor (SCAN-MED)
We reached 12 June 2014 when the PAT Council unanimously approved Motion No. 38 for interventions to support the study and planning activity relating to the construction of a railway in the Avisio Valleys. On that occasion the PAT Council committed the Provincial Council to starting the feasibility study of a railway connecting Trento with the Avisio valleys as quickly as possible, examining, among other things, the financial aspects.
From 2014 to today, ten years of waiting have passed during which the Transdolomites Association has not passively watched the passage of time. It has repeatedly called upon the political decision-makers on duty to honor the spirit of Motion No. 38 and has undertaken to promote various technical-economic studies which we believe are functional in analyzing the substance of the railway proposal from a scientific point of view.
Another political act to remember, the Agenda promoted by Councilor Gianluca Cavada and voted by the entire PAT Council at the end of December 2021 aimed at renewing attention regarding the feasibility study for the Avisio Railway.
Finally, the Approval of the agreement scheme pursuant to art. 16 of LP 16/93 between Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) spa and the Autonomous Province of Trento relating to a collaboration aimed at carrying out preliminary assessments regarding the technical and economic feasibility of a new railway connection between Trento and Canazei (“Avisio Train”) on 7 June 2024, at the end of a ten-year wait. It represents the achievement of a historic goal and at the same time the point of a concrete restart aimed at evaluating the aspects of the “Avisio Railway” project idea.
Wednesday 19 June at 3.00 pm during the public press conference, in addition to recalling the 10 years of progress in the salient passages, our attention will not be on the technical nature of the work (already the theme of many conferences) but above all on the background of human commitment on the on which this unique associative experience in Italy is based. It will be an opportunity to thank those in civil society who had the civic courage to support the cause of the Avisio Railway, allowing us to experience this historic moment. At the same time, an opportunity to finally remove, even without rancor, a few stones from your shoes. This step has also been awaited for a few years: a parenthesis to open and close at the same time because the battle that now awaits us is not about looking backwards but moving forward.
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Massimo Girardi
President of Transdolomites
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Avisio Railway, the moment to celebrate, to say thank you. Now the real game is played.
A result that has been awaited for years, and now the time has come to celebrate, to give thanks in the knowledge that the real game is being played now and that even more so we have to roll up our sleeves. The path in the direction of the project idea for a railway that connects Trento to Penia di Canazei via Val di Cembra, Fiemme and Fassa takes its cue in 2009 in the wake traced by Metroland whose noble thought was to connect the suburbs of Trentino via rail with the city of Trento.
The concept is noble, the idea of four railway lines mostly to be built in tunnels and with only thirteen stops planned throughout Trentino is out of scale. Metroland needed to be recalibrated to ensure that it transformed from a work into an infrastructure and therefore a widespread service for the suburbs to offer a real mobility service for residents and tourists.
The historical approach to the remodeling of Metroland was started in 2009 through a study commissioned by Qnex of Bolzano which brought to light the first design idea for the Avisio Railway. A demanding process of public discussions began in the valleys, with the Autonomous Province of Trento. After years in which the proposal was received rather coldly in Trento, in the following years there was a political turning point.
On 12 June 2014, the PAT Council unanimously approved Motion No. 38 for interventions to support the study and planning activity relating to the construction of a railway in the Avisio Valleys. On that occasion, the PAT Council committed the Provincial Council to starting the feasibility study of a railway connecting Trento with the Avisio valleys as quickly as possible, examining, among other things, the financial aspects.
From 2014 to today, ten years of waiting have passed during which the Transdolomites Association has not passively watched the passage of time. It has repeatedly called upon the political decision makers on duty to honor the spirit of Motion No. 38 and has undertaken to promote various technical-economic studies which we believed to be functional in analyzing the substance of the railway proposal from a scientific point of view. This path was accompanied by many conferences organized with the aim of promoting knowledge of the railway world for the transport of people and for the redevelopment of the tourist offer in the Dolomites and Alps.
Our duty to remember the Agenda promoted by Councilor Gianluca Cavada and voted by the entire PAT Council at the end of December 2021 aimed at renewing attention regarding the feasibility study for the Avisio Railway. The Approval of the agreement scheme pursuant to art. 16 of LP 16/93 between Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) spa and the Autonomous Province of Trento relating to a collaboration aimed at carrying out preliminary assessments regarding the technical and economic feasibility of a new railway connection between Trento and Canazei (“Avisio Train”) on 7 June 2024, rewards the ten-year wait.
It represents the achievement of a historic goal and at the same time the point of a concrete restart aimed at evaluating the aspects of the “Avisio Railway” project idea. As President of Transdolomites, of the Board of Directors and of the association itself, I extend heartfelt thanks to the President of the Autonomous Province of Trento, Maurizio Fugatti, and to the Provincial Council of Trento for having honored the commitment undertaken since the previous legislature. Since its establishment, the Association has always tried to defend its position of non-partisan neutrality but at the same time feels the ethical duty to thank those who are committed to the cause not only of the Avisio railway but of the entire field of sustainable mobility.
We are well aware that the real game is played from this moment on. We need to be pragmatic, and not convey easy illusions to the territories: the road is still long but we have taken that road. To achieve a successful outcome of the feasibility study, it must be supported with all the information that allows us to scientifically analyze the true potential that this railway will be able to express with an eye towards the future, aware of the challenges to which the transport sector will have to respond in future. Not just numbers but the ability and courage to accept the challenge of the feasibility study as an opportunity for the whole of Trentino.
Transdolomites will continue its commitment to the topic of sustainable mobility, promoting events for discussion between experts to explore the knowledge and great potential linked to the world of railways. All this is not in the interest of the Association but of the Avisio valleys, Trentino, the Dolomite region and the Alpine arc in light of the participatory path that we have been able to build over time in an international context.
All this without moving forward but trusting in a path that invites Trentino and its institutions to be an active part. On Wednesday 19 June at 3.00 pm the association will convene a public press conference in Trento to recall the salient passages. Not so much the technical path but above all the human commitment in this unique associative experience in Italy. It will be an opportunity to thank those in civil society who had the civic courage to support the cause of the Avisio Railway, allowing us to reach the goal of the feasibility study.
A moment of meeting also to remove, without rancor, a few stones from your shoes. We have been waiting for this moment for years, a parenthesis that we intend to open and close because the next battle is not about looking backwards but moving forward.
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Massimo Girardi
President of Transdolomites
