Following a long administrative process, the timetable is tightening for the construction of the national section of the new Turin–Lyon railway between Avigliana and Orbassano. On 23 January 2026, the Conference of Services will be convened to approve the final design of the rail variant that runs from the Turin node through Orbassano to the gateway of the Susa Valley. More than fifty institutions, authorities and companies are involved in the final assessment of the project.
Under the 2012 Italy–France agreement, the project was divided into three functional phases, and the approval now concerns what is referred to as stage one. This includes the construction of a new alignment from Avigliana to the Orbassano freight yard as far as the Pronda junction, with a total length of just under 24 kilometres, including upgrades to the Avigliana and Orbassano facilities required for the integration of the new tracks.
The most significant engineering works along the new route include the construction of a twin tunnel eight kilometres long beneath the morainic hill, together with a cut-and-cover tunnel extending for four kilometres. Compared with initial estimates that put investment at €1.7 billion, the whole-life cost has risen to €2.9 billion due to the complexity of excavation beneath the morainic formation. More detailed studies revealed insufficient ground stability to allow progress using conventional methods.
The Conference of Services represents only the final step in a bureaucratic journey formally launched almost fifteen years ago, when RFI submitted the preliminary design to the Ministry of Transport on 19 April 2011. The environmental impact assessment procedure concluded with a favourable opinion, albeit subject to conditions, in December 2013. Shortly afterwards, however, the authorisation process for the preliminary project was suspended pending approval of the final design for the cross-border section, running from Bussoleno/Susa in Italy to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France. This section is now at an advanced stage of construction under the responsibility of TELT, the binational promoter overseeing the building and future management of the new Italy–France railway.
In August 2021, a special commissioner was appointed to accelerate the overall process, with Calogero Mauceri taking on the role. In May 2022, acting within his remit, he authorised RFI to develop the final design for the Avigliana–Orbassano section, which is now undergoing approval by the Conference of Services.
The Italian section of the Turin–Lyon also includes a further tunnel variant, the Orsiera tunnel between Avigliana and Bussoleno. This phase has been removed from the current programme and postponed beyond 2035, together with the project known as the Turin freight bypass, a link between the Orbassano node and Settimo Torinese connecting with the historic Turin–Novara–Milan line. While the future of the Orsiera tunnel remains undecided, an interim solution has been selected involving low-cost upgrades to the existing railway between Avigliana, the exit point of the variant now under approval, and Bussoleno. The new Orbassano–Avigliana section will enter service at the same time as the cross-border section, including the Mont Cenis base tunnel.
Piermario Curti Sacchi
