Interports, reform approved: 'A boost for intermodality'

Historic turning point in Italian logistics: after 35 years, the reform of freight villages is law. The text, already approved last July by the Senate, obtained yesterday the final green light in the Chamber of Deputies with 132 yes, 76 no and 2 abstained. It is a fundamental step, marking the passing of law 240 of 1990, which is no longer adequate to the needs of the sector.

The reform, operators explain, represents adecisive boost to intermodality. The interport, in fact, is the place where the intersection between different modes of transport (road and rail) physically takes place and where the transhipment of goods from truck to train and vice versa takes place.

The new regulation consists of eight articles and defines the freight village as a strategic infrastructure of national interest and establishes a National Committee for intermodality; the Ministry of Infrastructure (MIT) will be responsible for surveying existing freight villages and approving a general plan for intermodality; the operators will operate under a private regime, with the possibility of acquiring ownership of the areas; the maximum number of freight villages will be 30, with priority given to the most important projects.

Says Matteo Gasparato, president of Uir (Unione interporti riuniti), which has made this reform the flagship of its mandate: "This is a great result: the new framework law largely implements the vision promoted by Uir, which aims to give the Italian interport system a modern regulatory framework that is consistent with the objectives of sustainable development and intermodality. Moreover, the text undoubtedly represents a good basis from which to make further improvements. For this reason,' Gasparato continues, 'UIR expresses its appreciation for the work done by the legislator and, at the same time, due credit must be given to the government for its great sensitivity on the subject and for having strongly wanted to reform the sector after 35 years. This is a sign of real and rare consideration and, therefore, of tangible recognition of the value of the strategic asset for the country attributed to interportuality. Now," Gasparato concludes, "we are awaiting the start of an implementation phase that will be able to effectively translate the principles of the law into concrete measures capable of supporting the development, sustainability and territorial balance of the national interport system.

For freight villages, in an increasingly competitive international context, this law represents a concrete opportunity to strengthen Italy's strategic role in the Euro-Mediterranean logistics, enhancing a network that already sees five Italian freight villages among the top ten in Europe. In short, it is finally unequivocally acknowledged that intermodality and the Italian freight village system represent a non-negligible part of the backbone of our country, in the same way as other networks and strategic infrastructures.