A study of the Foundation for the Sustainable Development emphasizes the importance of the railway corridor Genoa-Rotterdam

Who it asks to me which are the areas pulling ahead for the development of the economy of the European Union I always suggest to look a night satellite photography of the continent. The specks to greater luminous intensity are evidently those which anticipates a higher inhabited density and a greater number than industrial takeovers. The concentration of light spots more is elevated on the axis north-south that joins the side south of the Sea of the North with 1a northern side of the Mediterranean. The flashing forms a trace that gives the Low Countries crosses the Germany and arrives to the industrial triangle of the north-west of Italy. It is a line that combines the ports of Rotterdam and Genoa.

Also the authors of a study on the railway corridor Genoa-Rotterdam, or "Corridor of the two seas", that Foundation for the Sustainable and commissioned Development from the Embassy of Switzerland in Italy is realized, have not found more better than a night photography of the European Spatial Agency in order to evidence how much the corridor is "barycentric regarding the economic and demographic ridge of western Europe called "Blue Banana". This term - authors Raimondo Orsini, Massimo Ciuffini and Valeria Gentili explain - identifies a city corridor that is extended from London to Milan whose involved regions are the London basin, the Valley Rhenish, and the western part of the Po Plain". "The ridge - they confirm - is economic because marked from the succession of productive districts to high added value and strategic importance for the European economic space: chemical, druggist industry, of the steel, the automobile besides the production and distribution of the energy. These industrial activities strongly are concentrated in the harbour areas or near to they and the Genoa-Rotterdam Corridor it connects between the their greater harbour areas of the Europe north - and of the world - and the more important of the north of the Mediterranean. But the ridge is also demographic, in terms of inhabitants and of density of population, with the regions of the five Countries crossed from the corridor between the most peopled of the world".

The study emphasizes, moreover, as the corridor is inserted in the main routes of the world-wide commerce and has seen to increase to the transport question goods in last the four years, controtendenza regarding the remainder of Europe and to other European corridors. "In a moment as this of strong attention to the strategic appraisals on great infrastructures - the Foundation for the Sustainable Development finds - all the data on the question of transport goods and the decrease of the environmental impact are from the part of the Genoa-Rotterdam Corridor. From the analysis completed in the study it turns out, in fact, that the traffic goods that, along the director Genova-Rotterdam, has crossed the Swiss Alps is in continuous increase from years '80: the tons transported on road were 8,9 million in 2000 and have become 14,3 in 2010; those transported on iron were 20,6 million in 2000 and are 24 million in 2010. And also the two ends of the corridor have seen to increase, between 2005 and 2010, the containerized trade: Rotterdam and Antwerp of 31% and 20% respective; La Spezia and Genoa respective of the 25% and the 8%". "To the street passes between Italy and Switzerland - the Foundation specifies - moreover they are found in 2009 approximately 850.000 heavy vehicles with origin or Italy destination with the Lombardy overhead like generator of traffic from and towards Italy, street vehicles that will become 1.171.000 in 2030. If a good part of these vehicles that travel from and towards Italy was moved by the road to the railroad the atmosphere it could some draw a great benefit: it would be assisted in fact to a annual decrease of the emissions of co2 of 0,3 million tons, NOX of 1000 tons, PUBLIC PROSECUTOR of seven tons and an energetic saving of 100.000 TEP".

The Foundation evidences also the social and ambientalmente meaningful aspect of the railway axis: "the modal transfer from railroad road of all the traffic goods generated and directed in Italy - the Foundation presided from Edo Ronchi observes - would afford a drastic external cost reduction for our Country (atmospheric emissions, noise, incidents, congestion etc) until 268 million euros the year to 2030".

Bruno Bellio