Italy’s southern regions, despite bragging just as much beauty, amazing food and rich culture as the country’s central and northern ones, have always been a little neglected when it comes to infrastructure, and historically it’s made them harder to reach.
However, thanks to support from the EU’s Covid-19 recovery fund, which is financing around a quarter of this €6 billion project, a brand-new high-speed railway is in development that will run from Naples to the Puglian city of Bari.
The 145km two-track line will be managed by state-run Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) and will replace the current slow single line, halving the journey time to just two hours by 2028. All existing stations on the route will be given a revamp, and a brand-new station will open in the remote area of Irpinia.
The €6 billion project is just one portion of a wider FS strategy to invest a staggering €60 billion into its rail network over the next decade.
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Italy’s railways stretch to around 17,000km in total, but much of that is concentrated in the north of the country. The hope is that by improving connections from small towns and cities in Italy’s south, the exodus of young residents from the region could be slowed. Right now, southern-focused think-tank Svimez estimates 8 million people will move away from the region by 2080.
‘Activating the line is crucial, especially for those inland areas and villages that have been suffering severe depopulation in recent years,’ Giuseppe Cirillo, head of the fast-speed project for FS infrastructure unit RFI, told Reuters.
Excitingly, the same think-tank estimates that €4 billion and 62,000 jobs will be generated, and that’s just in the construction phase of the project.
Stay tuned for more updates, and in the meantime, have a look at our list of all the most beautiful small towns and villages in Italy.
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