Tens of thousands rallied Saturday in Turin to protest against a high speed train project to the French city of Lyon, fiercely opposed by environmentalists, as a waste of public funds.

The scheme involves construction of a 57.5 kilometre (35.7 mile) tunnel across the French and Italian Alps to cut travel time to two hours from the current four hours.

The cost is estimated at $8.6 billion (7.5 billion euros) with the bill split 40 percent, 35 percent and 25 percent between the European Union, Italy and France.

The organisers claimed "a sea of some 70,000 people" had attended the rally but police did not give any estimate of numbers.

The demonstrators held placards saying "No TAV", or "No high speed train", "We are against waste" and "Yes to protecting the territory and the environment".

"There are more important things to invest in such as hospitals, schools and roads," said Maurizio Alfero, 60, adding that he had to wait until next September for a hospital appointment because it was vastly overstretched.

"It's sufficient to use the existing (train) line which is underused," he said.

On November 10, up to 40,000 people backing the project rallied in Turin.

The Italian government itself is divided on the issue: the far-right League of Interior Minister Matteo Salvini backs the project but the Five Star Movement opposes it.

Related Links
Great Train Journey's of the 21st Century

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Populists battle over Italy-France train project
Milan (AFP) Nov 8, 2018
A contested high-speed train line between Italy and France has become a key battleground for a divided populist government in Rome, with part of the coalition demanding the project be scrapped. Business leaders are expected to lead a rally on Saturday urging Rome to forge ahead with the 8.6-billion euro ($9.8-billion) tunnel through the Alps for the line linking Turin to Lyon, which has already been partially dug. The rail link will reduce travel time between Milan and Paris from almost seven ho ... read more