Turin to withdraw from observatory on high-speed railway with France

Italian northern city of Turin will withdraw from an international technical workgroup for a high-speed railway project with France, Turin mayor said on Thursday.

Chiara Appendino, the 5-Star Movement (M5S) mayor of Turin, presented a motion to leave the Turin-Lyon Observatory, a technical workgroup for the Turin-Lyon high-speed railway, a planned railway line that will connect the French city of Lyon with Turin.

Appendino was elected on June 30. During her campaign she voiced her objection to the high-speed train project.

Along with the majority of 5-Star Movement in Turin City Council, she presented the motion for withdrawing the city from the Observatory.

The document must be approved by the Turin City Council. Local media said the mayor's act has only a symbolic and political value, because the international treaty about the high-speed train was ratified last week by Italian Senate.

On Dec. 20, the treaty will be debated by Italian Chamber of Deputies. "The motion helps us to explain why we are strongly against the high-speed train, an investment we feel isn't necessary or a priority given the projected benefits, and we think those resources would be better invested elsewhere," Appendino said.

The Turin-Lyon project is a planned 270 km-long railway line connecting the French city of Lyon with Turin. It has drawn criticism, particularly in Italy, since the first attempt to start construction work about 10 years ago. Enditem