Dispute over Europe's most expensive high-speed railway line

Construction work began years ago in the small Alpine town of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. Despite the massive burden this entails, the mayor, Philippe Rollet, is positive about the prospect of becoming a stop on the railway line: ‘The construction will bring great opportunities for our region.’ Incidentally, the project is already to far advanced to oppose it: ‘It would be a mistake to stop now. It would cost a fortune.’ Citizens' initiatives in France and Italy see things differently; they still hope to be able to stop the construction. ‘It is destroying our valleys and is unnecessary,’ says Franco OliveroFugera from the Italian Susa Valley.

He has long been a member of the NoTAV protest movement - not a high-speed train. The state is cracking down on them and categorising them as a criminal organisation - despite their largely non-violent approach.

 

The tree nursery owners Anthony Guillould and Donatien Wion from France also see the high-speed railway line as an ‘ecological, financial and social disaster’. They regularly organise bus tours to inform people about the consequences of the construction work. Their protest has now found support across Europe.