Ferrovie e pseudo-liberalizzazione: quali effetti su territorio e mobilità?

In the Nineties, the European Union has started a program for supporting the railway services with the aim of creating a unique European railway platform by using incentives for increasing the market competition, by simplifying the regulatory framework and by providing a special focus on environmental sustainability. The implementation policy of the project focused on the economic impact for the Countries and it did not consider the territorial implications and consequences. The opening of the High-Speed Line reduced significantly the travel times along the route Torino-Milano- Roma-Napoli but the increase in competition in the railway market did not take place, especially in the passenger service. The impact was a decline of the quality of the service offered in the secondary lines, with a reduction of the overall efficiency and implications on some railways routes currently underused and, in some cases, dismissed. The main indirect effect of the liberalization on the community is the change in the transportation choices for individuals. In the last 30 years, in Italy inner areas have been losing their efficiency in the railway service offered. They are no longer attractive for economic activities and the gap between fast connected areas and slow connected areas is growing. The current market framework shows an increase in the volume of investments made by railway service companies on the main routes characterized by better return perspectives and the disposal of the other lines. Citizens living in small towns are obliged to use the private cars or moto instead of the public transportation especially for the long-distance travel. The lack and the poor quality of the passenger service for the inner areas has changed the mobility strategy and it caused an increase in the usage of not efficient transportation service and the impact is even higher of the regions characterized by the lower income per capita.