MILAN, Italy-
Italy's infrastructure minister pledged Wednesday to push ahead with work on a high-speed train link between Turin and Lyon, France, a critical segment in a planned trans-European corridor from Lisbon, Portugal to Kiev, Ukraine.
The project has been subject to long delays, raising concerns about its future and prompting contractors on Monday to remove construction vehicles. The site has been sealed since December after clashes between police and environmental protesters in the run-up to the Winter Olympics, held in Turin in February.
Infrastructure Minister Antonio Di Pietro assured former EU Transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio, now coordinator for the Lyon-Turin link, during a meeting in Rome that the high-speed train line will go ahead. But he suggested that such European commitments could scuttle a controversial plan to build a bridge from the Italian mainland to Sicily.
"We can't stop a project that is essential for the country, but at the same time we can't ignore the concerns of local populations," Di Pietro told a news conference. "We can discuss the route (of the train) but not the project itself."
Di Pietro added that the environmental impact of the project would be taken into account, and that talks with local residents will continue.
De Palacio said she was reassured that the change in government did not bring a change in strategy on the train line, and said modifications in the route were possible since the final plan had not yet been approved.
"Now there is no doubt of the desire to go ahead," she said.
Business leaders strongly back the high-speed line, intended to reduce road traffic and boost trade, but have been concerned that members of Premier Romano Prodi's coalition opposed to the project, such as the Green party and the Communist Refoundation, would hold sway.
The $5.52 billion Messina bridge project is part of a vast program launched by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi aimed at improving infrastructure, particularly in the underdeveloped south. The center-left has viewed the project as too expensive, and Prodi has said improving highways in the south should take priority over the bridge.
