"The issue of commuters and rail transport becomes a priority. The South, starting from Calabria and Sicily, does not need the Bridge over the Strait of Messina, but to strengthen the railway lines with new trains, to focus on electrification and faster land connections, to improve ship transport with the purchase of Ro-Ro (Roll-on/Roll-off) ferries and to convert current fleets into electric ferries".
This is the appeal that Legambiente launches to the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini by presenting the 'Pendolaria' report from Reggio Calabria and Messina.
In Sicily there are 1,267 kilometers of single track lines, 85% of the total of 1,490 kilometres, while 689 kilometers (46.2%) are not electrified.
Travel times are embarrassing: to go from Trapani to Ragusa it takes 13 hours and 14 minutes, changing 4 regional trains.
For the Bridge over the Strait, defined several times by Legambiente as a "useless and senseless work with a strong environmental and landscape impact", there is a total authorized expenditure of 11.63 billion euros, divided over 9 years.
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