The political controversy began on Monday 1 July 2024, less than 48 hours after the heavy rainfall that caused serious damage in Breuil-Cervinia and Cogne.
On social networks, especially on Facebook, there have been numerous posts and comments dedicated to the Cogne-Pila train. The posts claim that if the train connecting Cogne and Pila had not been abandoned, despite huge expenses by the autonomous region of Valle d’Aosta, today the Alpine pearl would not be isolated and there would not have to be continuous helicopter flights to guarantee connections.
He stresses the question Democratic areawho writes in a note dated July 2, 2024: «In the Regional Council of Thursday 20 June 2024, the regional councilor of Area Democratica Gauche Autonomiste, Erika Guichardaz, once again brought to the council an initiative on the need for the Drinc tunnel that connects Epinel to Acque Fredde to be passable. A tunnel that has returned to the fore following the events of the past few days.
Beyond the projects related to the irrigation purposes envisaged in the study presented by the Gressan Land Improvement Consortium, in fact, for our association making the tunnel accessible for emergencies is a common sense solution that should be forcefully pursued unlike those in the regional or municipal council who hypothesize the cableway connection as an alternative.
A popular petition, signed by 683 citizens, including the historic mayor of Cogne Osvaldo Ruffier, asked to keep alive the Drinc railway and the Cogne mines, recalling how the railway inaugurated on 18 October 1922, in case of heavy snowfall, landslides or particular events was the only connection route for transporting people and first aid supplies.
Considering the cableway connection, the feasibility of which we do not know today, but which is still exposed to the elements, as an escape or transport route is not the appropriate solution, especially if the bad weather continues.».
«The bad weather emergency and its sad consequences have once again highlighted the need to seriously talk about alternative routes to our valleys» write invece Valdôtain Gathering- «Already in April 2024 – the RV councilors recall -, with a motion of ours discussed in the Council, we had raised the issue of the connection between Pila and Cogne as an alternative route to the Aymavilles regional road: today, we are relaunching the idea knowing that, on the one hand, a cableway connection project is being studied and is already included in the Regional Economic and Financial Document, but on the other hand, accessibility to Cogne needs to be included in the Regional Transport Plan. One solution could be the Drinc tunnel, which lies unused and could have a new life as a potential emergency tunnel, but every other possible alternative must be taken into consideration. The situation of these days has confirmed our concerns of the time, that is, the dangerous situation of the regional road no. 47. We believe that a decision must be made, acting accordingly, also and precisely in view of the revision of the Regional Transport Plan. We hope that the proposal will come to the attention of the Commission as soon as possible: a reflection is necessary now more than ever, because the risk of isolation is real.»
