The train is essential for reviving Porto Ceresio and its lake

The last time a train travelled the tracks of the Varese-Porto Ceresio railway line was 13th December 2009. At 9pm, the last whistle of the locomotive, then a silence that has lasted seven years.

A silence that in recent months, however, has become less absolute. RFI over the months has assured the mayors that the route will be reopened, Legambiente has raised the issue recently with the demonstration on the occasion of the Day of the Forgotten Railways (pictured), and now the railway issue is obviously one of the key points of the campaign in Porto Ceresio.

The two candidates agree on the absolute need to restart the railway, but less on the evaluations of what has been done so far to achieve this result.

“We intend to field every effort to obtain the reopening of the railway to Porto Ceresio,” says Jenny Santi, candidate of the list “Porto Ceresio Together We can”. “This commitment will be realised in the presence of the working groups in which the municipalities involved in the route are invited – something which did not happen until now, with a serious absence of the current administration from the meetings with the Minister of transport – and with the request to participate in the meetings currently reserved to other entities”.

Domenico Carrillo deputy mayor in charge of the administration and also a mayoral candidate for the list “Continuity and Renewal” does not accept the judgment of “absenteeism”: “We have asked to be invited to these meetings,” he explains, “meetings that to date have been open only to the mayors of the Varese-Stabio-Arcisate section. We have not yet received the official response, but informally we know that we will be convened soon. Anyway, in these years we have been constantly in touch with the Italian Railways also for the question of the Porto Ceresio train station, which we have revived thanks to an agreement that prevented it from being abandoned, but instead kept it open even hosting a small museum that will remain even after the reopening of the railway.”

That the railway is vital not only for the citizens of Valceresio but also for tourism and economic revival of the valley and the lake is one thing that everyone agrees on.

“We will ask for a meeting with the general management of tourism, transport and economic development of the Region Lombardy,” says Jenny Santi, “in order to have official recognition of the touristic value of the route, as well as its importance as a means of transportation for the citizens of Porto Ceresio”.

The latest initiative taken by the mayors of the area is a letter that is about to going to be sent in these days that will ask Rfi to respect the commitments: “RFI is committed to start work by the end of 2016 and to finish them by 2017,” concludes Carrillo. “We believe that if there is a willingness to proceed a year is enough. The reopening of the Varese-Porto Ceresio line will be a positive development not only for Porto Ceresio but for all the municipalities of the valley and those bordering the Ceresio. This is also why we as a municipality gave the patronage to the event of Legambiente and we offered ourselves as promoters for the letter to RFI which will be sent in these days and that will be signed by all the mayors of the valley. “