The upgrade of the Italian Parma-La Spezia railway, also known as the Pontremolese line, continues to drift further into the future. It was clear from the beginning that the project was not born under a lucky star, given the continuous postponements and delays in the doubling projects with numerous variations compared to the historic line, which is no longer suitable for current standards. The enhancement works have been spread over the years due to the need to secure financial resources gradually, and now the upgrade of the northernmost section, between Parma and Vicofertile, for which design procedures had begun, seemed ready to start.
However, another setback has arrived. The announcement of a further delay came on 29 January 2025 during a parliamentary question answered by Transport deputy minister Tullio Ferrante. The text of the response filed in the chamber leaves no room for optimism: "regarding the resources needed to cover the emerging requirements for the construction of the work, these will be identified during future updates of the Mit/Rfi investment programme contract".
This means that currently no funding is available and it will have to be secured through future investment plan updates, meaning years away. Everything seemed within reach to move to the operational phase, albeit limited to the first short section of just over seven kilometres between Parma and Vicofertile. In January 2023, the special commissioner had initiated the authorisation process, and subsequently, Rfi promoted the preliminary service conference, which concluded in June 2024. Meanwhile, Emilia-Romagna approved the state-region agreement with the final project resolution and implementation agreement with all stakeholders, to the point that in October 2024, the project received final approval from the special commissioner.
Rfi only needed to launch the tender. However, everything has stalled because the funds, according to undersecretary Ferrante, are yet to be secured. Predictions remain uncertain, especially since the total duration between executive design and construction is expected to take 1,890 days (over five years). And after Vicofertile? For the section from here to Fornovo di Taro, Rfi has at least begun preliminary planning, while the Berceto-Chiesaccia section remains completely up in the air.
The railway connecting the La Spezia port to the Po Valley hinterland is one of the few routes that could primarily serve freight traffic within the Tyrrhenian-Brenner corridor, and indeed has always had shipowners and Confindustria entrepreneurs among its main sponsors. Stretching 112 kilometres between Vezzano and Parma, the Pontremolese has so far been modernised for just under 40 kilometres, about a third, over biblical timeframes.
Since the 1980s, there has been talk of radical modernisation with double-tracking on a new route to enhance its essentially freight transport vocation, but projects and works have faced continuous postponements between lack of funds and limited political will. Consider that the Parma-La Spezia upgrade project dates back to the financing law known as the 1981 supplementary plan, over forty years ago. To complete all works on the entire Pontremolese, resources estimated at over five billion euros are needed, which obviously still need to be secured.
Piermario Curti Sacchi
