Brescia-Mantua Rail Project Aims to Ease Traffic, Secures Municipal Support
On paper, it is a stretch of railway connecting Asola, Castel Goffredo, Carpenedolo, Castiglione, and Lonato, with a spur heading towards Montichiari. On the railway line, there are 40 kilometers of freight rail, which are expected to solve the traffic jam issues caused by trucks on the highway. For now, it remains a project, but it has already achieved a positive result: an agreement, formalized in a memorandum of understanding, among the six involved municipalities—half from Mantua and half from Brescia. Enzo Fozzato, the mayor of Ceresara and project coordinator, opens a map and smiles. “The funding? We will find it.” According to an initial feasibility study, the cost will range from 80 to 100 billion euros, which, based on calculations and hopes, should be allocated by the European Community, the Region, and the Railways, with openings to private investors.
The project and costs
The project, which for the six mayors is already a construction site in progress, includes a traffic study that forecasts a throughput of 15,000 to 20,000 wagons: “We will communicate this to Palazzo di Bagno as a variation to the provincial territorial plan, and we will also hold a meeting in Brescia. But there are no major obstacles.” In other words, if the funds are secured, the biggest hurdle is already overcome.
Commitment and implementation timeline
The project has already been approved by the six Municipalities’ councils, explains Fozzato, with the formal commitment of the mayors to contribute their efforts to promote all initiatives necessary for the timely realization of the railway connection. Regarding the timeline, approximately four years are anticipated, based on the example of the Portogruaro-Treviso line. The foundation of the project is built on trust in a productive and commercial reality, that of the Alto Mantovano region, one of the most concentrated and innovative in Italy, with “thousands of prosperous companies that bring employment and prestige to their territories,” Fozzato proudly states, who also envisioned storage warehouses along the railway stations for freight handling.
European considerations and future prospects
A project well anchored in the territory, yet its rails lead straight towards Europe, where the community, the mayor of Ceresara states, “encourages rail transport and in some countries, for decades, has exemplified a prosperous exchange economy largely carried out via railway.” This is a lesson worth emulating for our administrations, Fozzato suggests, which have already received requests from companies eager to utilize the railway infrastructure.