Lombardy, what the candidates in the regional elections say about infrastructure and transport
Lombardy
Transport and infrastructure are central points in the programs of the candidates for the Lombardy regional elections. Indeed, there are those who place them at the top of the proposals for their idea of the region of the future. Above all, we talk about green and sustainable mobility, but also about modern infrastructures and innovation. There are those who speak specifically of the Olympics and those who instead of a plan to avoid further soil consumption; there are those who want to encourage cycle paths and those who focus on renewing the car fleet. But let's go in order to analyze the different proposals of the candidates:The centre-right with Attilio Fontana The centre-left and the M5s with Pierfrancesco Majorino The third pole with Letizia Moratti's civic list The popular union with Mara Ghidorzi The candidates for president in the Lombardy regional elections At the next Lombard regional elections on 12 and 13 February there are four candidates running for the leadership of the Pirellone: Attilio Fontana for the centre-right, Pierfrancesco Majorino for the centre-left and the M5s, Letizia Moratti, supported by the Third Pole and Mara Ghidorzi for Unione Popolare
The centre-right with Attilio Fontana
The candidate for the centre-right coalition that is attempting an encore at the helm of the region is investing heavily in this point in his infrastructure programme, inserting proposals on these topics at the beginning of his government project. It starts from the "strengthening of fast transport between the main urban centers of Lombardy, through new railway, road and motorway infrastructures starting from the completion of the Pedemontana and with the green evolution of the entire regional motorway system". Among the solutions for the much-discussed and overcrowded railway junction of Milan , Fontana thinks of "a through station to solve the structural problems associated with the concentration of lines and the simultaneous presence of different types of railway transport (commercial services, freight transport, region) ", above all "in view of the new opportunities connected with the opening of the third crossing point (goods and passengers), with logistics flows and with the opening of the Lyon-Turin Tunnel (Telt) and the related connections to Europe".The candidate, like his opponents, speaks of a strengthening of local public transport (LPT) which should also be "integrated with soft mobility and sharing services to decongest cities and make them more accessible to all, for a Increasingly sustainable local public transport through direct funding to replace the most polluting means of transport". Speaking of green mobility, there is discussion of " hydrogen, biofuel and electric mobility, electric highway and smart road, to achieve sustainable mobility, and allow manufacturing companies to acquire leadership in the value chains for the construction of transport networks in the future". According to Fontana, the mobility of the future will be " increasingly personalized ”, for example with "the integration of physical (transport infrastructure) and digital (platforms) networks as a determining factor of success for the use of mobility by people ". For welfare and mobility are thought of as "mobility solutions dedicated to the weakest segments of the population (for example the elderly) which allow easy access to some basic services such as medical visits or hospital diagnostics".
The centre-left and the M5s with Pierfrancesco Majorino
On infrastructure and transport, the candidate of the centre-left coalition and the M5s in his program devotes ample space to supporting sustainable mobility and infrastructures that favor multimodality. Majorino promises that " the new service contract will require a strengthening of the cadenced lines , their extension to connections with the main provincial capitals in the foothills and the introduction of express connections between Milan and Varese and Milan and Bergamo " . " Integrated season tickets and differentiated tariffs for workers, the unemployed, the elderly and large families will be introduced with full application of the principle of progressiveness" as well as the "free regional LPT for the under 25s".In general for rail transport, in case of victory Majorino wants to strengthen "the regional and inter-regional railway connections, starting from the strengthening of the Milan junction". The candidate's program also envisages "stable resources to finance an extraordinary maintenance plan for roads, tunnels and bridges, focusing attention on local roads and road safety, and for the removal of architectural barriers" and also the "regionalization of transport management in the Lombard lakes " .
On the circulation of cars, Majorino thinks of a "passage to electricity for vehicles circulating within urban areas and the disposal of diesel vehicles for extra-urban connections" . He also made investments for "the extension of cycle paths" and "economic incentives for companies that facilitate the use of bicycles for commuting from home to work and for traders who decide to equip public spaces for bicycles". With regard to the 2026 Olympics chapter, the candidate wants to set up "an ad hoc company for the management of the great event, together with the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation and the municipalities of Bormio, Livigno and the province of Sondrio, designed to remain in the area with the task to attract and manage other major future events, such as the Ski World Cup, hosted by our mountains".
Things to know about the regional elections in Lombardy Voting dates and times, the guide to the polls and information on candidates, programs and analysis of the proposals to arrive at the vote on February 12 and 13
The third pole with Letizia Moratti's civic list
In her program, the candidate immediately explains that "the technological innovation activities of the infrastructures will not be neglected, making the most of the results of the rich research already available in Lombardy" . The keystone therefore for infrastructures is connected to innovation. I also emphasize the green aspect: "the importance of green infrastructures must not be overlooked, to be strengthened both for landscape and ecological reasons, in order to connect the urban and rural context and enhance ecosystem services on demand" . Since "Lombardy has a good supply of infrastructures", these in the short term "must be optimized and used more effectively and efficiently to respond to the changes underway" , favoring above all a "better modal integration of infrastructures and services and to the care of their quality (aesthetic and functional) to respond to the diversified needs of users" .For the renewal of the car fleet, Moratti's watchwords are "containment (and improvement) of an overly old and polluting private vehicle fleet" and "increase in the offer and services for mobility on foot and by bicycle (Regional plan for cycling mobility)". The candidate dedicates a separate chapter to Trenord: "It is necessary to start a radical reflection on the management and results of Trenord, to give positive answers to citizens on the many critical issues present" and "carefully study the flows and routes, to identify the of targeted and concrete interventions. We want to achieve a progressive liberalization of the service, starting with the shortest routes".
More generally, therefore, " it is necessary to rebalance the investments between Milan and the other provinces, favoring the southern part of the region and the less connected areas" . As far as digital infrastructures are concerned, Moratti wants to "create a regional public network, LombardiaWiFi, which allows all citizens easy, free and fast access to the Internet in squares, hospitals, libraries, community centres, schools, sports facilities, of aggregation and clinics, without the need for registration, active 24 hours a day, every day " . In the long term, the Milan-Munich high-speed train will also appear among the future challenges to be analysed.
