If that headline seems like a mouthful, here’s a smaller bite. The Italian party that’s been trying to stall the high-speed rail link between the two cities took a drubbing in EU parliament elections and therefore is less able to throw roadblocks in the way of completing the long-planned link.
The link itself has been under construction for years and is scheduled for completion in 2025. But Italy’s quirky populist party, the Five-Star Movement, became a coalition partner last year in a right-leaning government, and has been pushing to cancel the project. Its coalition partner, the right-wing Liga party favors the link, which would benefit its base in northern Italy.
Supporters of the project point out that it would cut the time from Lyon to Turin from seven hours to four and take up to a million truckloads a year off the roads, saving over three million tonnes of greenhouse gases.
Image: Tunnel under construction
