A third chance
New projects in and around the port of Genoa.
After the restoration of the Morandi Bridge, which collapsed in 2018, work is now continuing on embankments, logistics areas and rail links in and around the port of Genoa.
More than three years have passed since the tragic collapse of the Morandi motorway bridge in Genoa on 14 August 2018. In the aftermath of the catastrophe, which claimed 43 lives, at least the port’s connections to Lombardy and Switzerland have improved again.
This isn’t only due to the successful construction of the Genoa San George Bridge, which replaced the Morandi Bridge and which was inaugurated in August 2020. Other important projects concern the railways, starting with the ‘Terzo Valico’ project, and major works on a new embankment on the seafront.
Funds come from an ‘extraordinary programme’
A month ago, prime minister Mario Draghi visited Genoa and, looking back at the past and forward to the future, gave a positive assessment – “Genoa has shown how to start again after a tragedy.” In his presentation Paolo Emilio Signorini, the president of the Port Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea (AdSP), which manages the port of Genoa, reminded his audience that “33% of container traffic passes through our gateway. We’re the top-ranked port in Italy and the sixth in Europe.”
Thanks to extensive funding provided by the Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza (national plan for recovery and resilience, PNRR), amongst others, the development of rail transport is moving forward. Direct services to markets beyond the Alps remain the most important goal. “In 2019 we released EUR 156 million to invest in expansion work, then we released another EUR 164 million in 2020 and another EUR 910 million in 2021. In 2022, on account of the new dam, we’ll actually exceed the EUR 1 billion mark.”
The ‘extraordinary programme’ will trigger investment in accessibility and development of the port, and in intermodal connections between the Cristoforo Colombo airport and the city of Genoa. It was set up in the summer of 2018, after the collapse of the Morandi Bridge, follows on from the ‘Genoa Decree’ and is endowed with EUR 2.3 billion. Projects include the transformation of the Fincantieri site in Sestri Ponente, a new transport system in the port, and a new embankment as a breakwater for the port basin.
Simplified logistics zones and more tracks
2018’s Genoa Decree identified the changes needed in the logistics areas surrounding the Ligurian port, including them in a so-called a simplified logistics zone (zona logistica semplificata, ZLS) called the ‘port and hinterlands of Genoa’. Establishing an entity in a ZLS is interesting for investors, as it offers faster authorisation and tax benefits for activities related to the port. There are 14 sites in Piedmont and twelve municipalities from the area are included.
According to Alberto Cirio, the president (head of government) of the Piedmont region, “Piedmont is located at the intersection of two major European rail axes – the Genoa–Rotterdam and the Mediterranean corridors. That’s why we consider it the real logistics heart of Europe.”
For the Italian railway enterprise FS the construction of the Terzo Valico dei Giovi–Nodo di Genova line is progressing rapidly; it’s due for completion in 2024. On the Italian section of the Turin–Lyon line the final design of the Avigliana–Orbassano stretch began in March. Vera Fiorani, CEO of RFI Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, said that “from 2022 onwards the freight station will be modernised, and container tracks extended, with EUR 13 million invested.”