Annabelle Jaeger, Regional Councillor for Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in charge of biodiversity and President of ARPE, shares with us this wish from the PACA Regional Council concerning the issue of conserving, or even reviving, the railway line that connects the Roya Valley with the Italian Riviera on one side and with the communes of the province of Cuneo on the other.
This service could be integrated into the French-Italian project, supported by the European Union, which brings together the Liguria region in Italy and the Provence Côte d’Azur in France and involves the Principality of Monaco, where nearly 27,000 French and Italians work every day.
To move things forward, a steering committee meeting was held on March 6, with the presence of Jean-Yves Petit, VP in charge of transport for the PACA region, Christian Palmaro, representative of the Monegasque government, and Enrico Vesca, deputy minister of the Liguria Region.
On this occasion, an appeal was made to the Piedmont Region to complement this working group, which is expected to become a European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) as provided by community legislation.
But for now, no Piedmont…
Moreover, the government of this region is chaired by Cotta, a member of the Northern League and former mayor of Novara, a city in Eastern Piedmont (located opposite Cuneo).
So one can well imagine his preferences during budget arbitrations!
As for the Italian government (which one? the current or the future?) …it seems that this issue is not, at least for the moment, among its priorities.
The Cuneo – Ventimiglia line, which serves the French part of the Roya Valley between Tende and Breil, is thus, today, gravely threatened. The Piedmont Region is considering, for financial reasons, the reduction of its regional rail service, leading to the suppression of the Cuneo – Ventimiglia service, already significantly reduced since January 1, 2013.
The Provence – Alpes – Côte d’Azur region has already suffered the consequences of the Italian service reduction with the elimination of stops at La Brigue and St-Dalmas-de-Tende. Today, the entire service is threatened.
In solidarity with the Liguria region, also affected, the Provence – Alpes – Côte d’Azur region has strongly challenged the French and Italian states regarding the future of the line. This international line, governed by the 1970 Franco-Italian convention, indeed concerns the states, which must, for years, update a largely outdated agreement due to developments in the railway system.
The inadequacy of this convention, as well as the difficult relationships among railway operators, also lead to a lack of maintenance and investment on this line, making its operation increasingly precarious.
In response to this situation, the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, meeting in Plenary Assembly on April 12, 2013:
Reaffirms its desire to maintain and develop a line with a triple vocation: an international link between Nice – Cuneo and Turin, a public service essential to the equality of our territories, and a heritage line of cultural and tourist interest (Train des Merveilles).
Requests an urgent meeting with the Piedmont region to obtain assurances on maintaining the Cuneo – Ventimiglia service as it is today, throughout 2013 and beyond.
Initiates a strong request to the French state to convene, as soon as 2013, the joint Franco-Italian commission responsible for updating the 1970 convention, an essential condition for the line’s sustainability.
Asks the concerned Italian regions, Piedmont and Liguria, to similarly urge the Italian state to convene the joint Franco-Italian commission.
