Yesterday, the European Commission's Directorate General for Move The first edition of the work plans of the corridors of transport of the TEN-T trans-European transport network. They are the first drafted after the TEN-T Regulation No. 1679 of 2024 which defines the new European Union guidelines for the development of of the TEN-T network and are also the only ones that will be released before the 2030 deadline, when the core network (Core) will have to be completed.

Four of the documents, which reflect the views of the corridor coordinators and not the official position of the concerning Italy and relate to the corridors Scandinavian-Mediterranean, Mediterranean, Baltic-Adriatic and Rhine-Alpes/North Sea-Rhine-Mediterranean. From the reading of the plans A twofold picture emerges: the basic infrastructure is in good condition compliant, but the major projects that should close the knots Structural structures arrive late or with incomplete funding.

The most delicate case is that of the Brenner. The Base Tunnel is expected to enter into service at the end of 2032, but the Piano warns that project risks could lengthen the timeframe. What is more worrying, however, are the accesses. On the on the Italian side, some batches are proceeding, others are reaching 2035, and three routes between Bolzano, Trento and Verona are classified as high risk of delay. In the north, in Germany, the access line is not expected before 2040. Coordinator Pat Cox uses words unusually direct. When the tunnel is ready, he writes In essence, the line will already have structural problems of capacity, and those problems are predictable. He therefore asks to reassess commitments on four-track upgrading before is late. The risk is to have a railway tunnel brand new and a line that does not support the trains that should make pass.

In the South, the picture is different, but uncertainty is the itself. The Salerno-Reggio Calabria high-speed line and the stable connection on the Strait of Messina appear among the projects with a high risk of missing deadlines. The plan describes the bridge over the Strait of Messina as a "proposed" project, with a date indicated at the end of 2033. The South is also the part of the country where delays on one of the requirements accumulate "newer" ones, that of electric charging that is judged inadequate.

As for the Turin-Lyon cross-border tunnel, worth 16.2 billion of euros, completion is indicated for 2033 and the plan of the Mediterranean Corridor insists on synchronization, because A work ready on one side and not on the other is of little use: the also by 2033, is designed to align with the tunnels, while on the French side the access links have no Another confirmed date.

The situation of the Rhine-Alpes/Sea corridor North-Rhine-Mediterranean is less critical. The Third Pass of the Giovi is given "in the process of completion" and of the About 87 kilometers of excavation remain to be completed, 1.3 between the end of the excavation 2026 and early 2027. However, the dates differ between the documents. The Rhine-Alpes/North Sea-Rhine-Mediterranean plan indicates the "presumable" completion of the Tortona-Genoa section to 2028, while the Mediterranean plan brings the deadline to 2032 for the entire package with the Genoa junction.

As for the criticalities of the connections of Italian ports with the trans-European network, the railway link of the port of Ravenna is indicated among the projects with risk of postponement, while the ports of Bari, Cagliari, Civitavecchia, Gioia Tauro, Naples, Palermo-Termini Imerese and Taranto are destined to remain non-compliant on the ability to move units and/or the presence of a multimodal terminal open to all operators.

Then there is the question of 740-meter trains, the standard to make rail freight transport competitive. According to the data of the plans, which refer to the lists of projects of end of 2025, on the Mediterranean corridor, today in Italy can circulate without restrictions only on the Milan-Verona route. Elsewhere there are Interventions are planned, but with different times. In Novara, two terminals cannot accommodate convoys of this length and are not projects are planned before 2030. Even the large urban nodes fatigue. Milan, Florence and Rome are indicated among the bottlenecks of most important capabilities, and the Milan East Gate Hub, scheduled right on the deadline, has not yet started the authorizations.