In Italy, import-export companies are concerned after the closure of part of the tunnels in the Alpine valley

A year after the landslide that damaged railway tracks in the Maurienne Valley, the Fréjus railway tunnel is still closed to traffic. The Mont Blanc tunnel must also close for several months for work. All this is worrying the import-export sector in Italy.

It will be a year on Tuesday that the Fréjus railway tunnel was closed after the landslide that occurred on August 27, 2023 in Maurienne (Savoie). The reopening is not planned, at best, before the first quarter of 2025. At the same time, the Mont-Blanc road tunnel will be closed from next week until December. This is the start of a major project to renovate the vault. In Italy, where the Alpine valleys are crucial for export to the rest of Europe, this situation is causing concern.

Giuseppe Curcio has a large import-export business to France, with 230 trucks transporting pasta and mineral water. “It’s very, very complicated”he admits. The difficulties of the rail transport part began with the contestation of the pension reform and the cancelled trains. Then the closure of the Fréjus tunnel. In two years, “We lost 2.5 million euros in turnover on the rail transport side”.

Part of his merchandise goes by road, but now the closure of Mont Blanc will pose a problem. These three months of work, starting in September, must be repeated for about fifteen years. Davide dell’Innocenti works in the Aosta Valley on the border with France and ships metal materials for construction to France. Between 15 and 20% of his business is at stake with the closure of Mont Blanc. “We don’t have a small injury, but a problem with an artery, he lets go. That’s three months of closure per year. Add to that the fact that in August, businesses are almost always on vacation, and in December, there are the holidays, you realize that this represents a good part of the season.”

For Davide, a member of the local Medef, there needs to be faster development and work under Mont Blanc before the major restoration. “We are calling for the construction of a second gallery under Mont Blanc, which would guarantee us a smoother, more ecological and safer passage to France in five or six years.”

Two-thirds of Italian exports to Europe pass through the Alpine valleys. When asked about solutions to these blockages, Giuseppe Curcio brings up an old dispute between France and Italy, the Lyon-Turin tunnel, called the TAV in Italy. “The protests against the TAV tunnel are slowing down the time taken to complete the work, but it is essential.” The full opening of this tunnel is not expected before the 2030s.