Road and rail transport projected to grow next year
The event commenced with a presentation unveiling insights from the Confcommercio Trasporti Observatory.
Mariano Bella, the director of the Confcommercio Research Office, presented data forecasting freight trends for next year. As it turns out, all modes are anticipated to experience increased volumes in 2024, with the exception of maritime transport due to the global economic slowdown.
Calls for infrastructure investment
However, Luca Bianchi, director of SVIMEZ, the association for the development of industry in Southern Italy, also highlighted notable challenges that could jeopardise the south’s economic recovery.
Despite Italy’s seventh-place ranking in European infrastructure competitiveness, Bianchi stresses that regional disparities persist. He noted that only Lombardy, Piedmont, Lazio, Liguria, and Campania surpass the European average. Bianchi added that southern regions, particularly concerning the rail freight sector, face significant delays.
According to an SVIMEZ study, funding for motorways and airports is also lacking. In addition, Alpine crossings are continually congested, stressing the need for new routes and modal shifts.
Moreover, in his speech at the event, Pasquale Russo, President of Conftrasporto, emphasised the urgency of integrated infrastructure investment and lamented past decisions that neglected investment in roads.
While acknowledging positive aspects of Italy’s recovery and resilience plan (Pnrr), Russo also urged the government to address the infrastructure gap in the south.
“The data highlights how urgent it is to invest in infrastructure and highlights the gap between the south, with a structural lack of connections, and Northern Italy, with high congestion, especially concerning border crossings. The situation that’s emerged demonstrates once again how wrong a choice it was not to have financed physical road infrastructure. As regards the Pnrr, it is positive and necessary to provide significant funds for the railway. However, for goods to move freely in this country, we must use the infrastructure system in an integral manner. It is counterproductive to have left motorways and airports out,” said Russo.
The macro-economic impact of constructing the Messina Bridge to Sicily is estimated to bring around 14.6 billion euros in added value. It is also thought the project will create as many as 256,000 jobs in 7 years, which Russo believes is an example of the potential benefits of strategic infrastructure development.
Government response and industry perspectives
Also speaking at the event was Nello Musumeci, Minister for Civil Protection and Maritime Policies.
He highlighted the significance of the 2023-2025 Sea Plan in unifying skills and strategies. In addition, he stressed the need for Italy to become a maritime power by investing in port restructuring, digitalisation, and electrification.
“We need a port system that puts Italy in a position to capitalise as much as possible on the competitive advantage of our geographical position. Our country must become a maritime power by strengthening and restructuring its ports, also by utilising digitalisation and electrification,” said Musumeci.
Industry figures such as Fabrizio Palenzona, President of Italy’s Logistics and Infrastructure Economics Study Centre Foundation, also raised the alarm about major mobility challenges in the country.
“We have a serious and crucial problem with the mobility of goods and people that urgently needs resolving. It is dramatic for road and motorway traffic, and the fact that the Pnrr does not intervene in this respect is madness. If there is no mobility and accessibility, the country is simply not able to compete. It is an absolute emergency,” warned Palenzona.
The call for the urgent resolution of these challenges also resonated with Paolo Uggè, President of the Federation of Italian Road Hauliers, who highlighted the pivotal role of road transport in driving economic competitiveness.
Another high-profile participant at the conference was Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport.
Among other things, he criticised the ETS scheme expansion to cover the maritime sector, and called for the drive towards electrification to be slowed down:
“There is a minister who believes that cars and trucks are not enemies. The ecological transition is important to everyone, but it must go hand-in-hand with economic and social sustainability. We oppose the ETS tax on ports which risks damaging our sites to the benefit of others,” said Salvini, who later added: “to say that the future of road mobility is only electric is to say that it is economic and environmental madness. This is only helping China.”
Salvini addressed the Brenner issue too, highlighting the appeal being made to the European Court against unfair competition. He also discussed the importance of sector associations in port governance reform.
Finally, Antonio Tajani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, stressed the importance of infrastructure in ensuring international competitiveness.
Besides highlighting problems on routes into France, Tajani advocated for a growth strategy and emphasised the need for a comprehensive, long-term vision:
“If goods transport costs much more than in other countries, there’s no point. So we need a real growth strategy; it must be a primary objective of the government with a 5-10 year outlook. We’re facing the Frejus and Mont Blanc problem with France. The Mont Blanc tunnel will be reopened during the Christmas holidays; we have imposed the reopening despite the resistance of the French, and we will continue to insist on the repair of the landslide damage that has been blocking the Frejus tunnel since August.”
Tajani also echoed Salvini’s call for decarbonisation efforts to slow down, delivering similarly uncompromising comments:
“The fight against climate change cannot be a religion that imposes unattainable objectives that destroy businesses. We cannot destroy the real economy to respond to absolute dogmas,” he said.
Photo by Paolo Busellato