Analysis
New data is trouble for Salvini: ‘The worst Transport Minister in history’
A survey by Altroconsumo found that almost 40% of Frecciarossa trains arrive later than scheduled. The minister doesn’t show his face except to rave about sabotage, nails and chains on the tracks.
Looking past wild-eyed projects like the Messina Strait bridge and big events such as organizing the America’s Cup, awarded on Thursday to Naples, getting around in Italy is slow, when it happens at all. Infrastructure and Transport Minister Salvini has other aims, namely the Interior Ministry. The mix of pining for the sheriff’s badge and a slapdash approach has blocked the ministry and taken the country’s mobility hostage, despite the massive National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) funds Salvini is managing during his tenure.
On Thursday, the Court of Auditors, in its half-yearly report on the NRRP, highlighted that the transport chapter has the lowest implementation rate, just 13%. The report starkly describes a series of failures, including on high-speed rail, with direct responsibility belonging to the minister in charge of the sector. The South is paying the highest price. Calabria, in particular, is only ever on Salvini’s mind because it would host one side of the Messina Strait bridge he is demanding and to which he is diverting all funds, with the paradox that high-speed rail for Calabrians will remain a pipe dream. On the Salerno-Reggio Calabria line, funds actually spent are stuck at 3.54% of the amount allocated in the plan compared to the 8% forecast, while the Naples-Bari section stands at 34.76% against the expected 59%.
“The numbers are unforgiving … They tear Salvini’s rhetoric apart: when he isn’t blaming non-existent sabotage, he’s invoking supposed construction works to justify unbelievable train delays and passenger discomfort,” commented Italia Viva senator Raffaella Paita. According to Andrea Casu, Democratic deputy and vice-chair of the House transport committee, the Court of Auditors’ numbers are more evidence that the Lega vice-premier is “the worst Transport Minister in history. He is using the role for propaganda, ignoring the emergencies that are making everyday life impossible for millions.”
Elsewhere in Italy, the numbers don’t look any better, all in the context of a rail system that only works in fits and starts, both on long-distance and commuter routes, as shown both by everyday news and research reports. A survey by Altroconsumo found that almost 40% of Frecciarossa trains arrive later than scheduled. The minister doesn’t show his face except to rave about sabotage, nails and chains on the tracks.
Someone who does hear from Salvini daily, however, is Pietro Ciucci, CEO of the Strait of Messina company set up to build the infamous bridge. “We speak several times a day, including by text message, for real-time updates on the project,” the CEO confirmed. When he isn’t busy with the bridge, cutting ribbons on work sites, or focused on Trump, Vannacci or immigration, the minister’s interest in the field of transport shows some rather odd priorities: “Promise kept! Dogs and cats will be allowed [on airplanes] in the cabin,” he boasted a few days ago. The rest of the Lega echoed him: “As promised by Minister Salvini, we’ll be flying with our four-legged friends. Air transport becomes pet-friendly again: from promises to action!”
On other occasions, he makes a mess of things, as with the infrastructure decree-law that blew up the cabinet meeting scheduled for Wednesday, May 14, which has not been rescheduled as of yet. “There is no problem whatsoever. There’s no political confrontation or clash. I am seeing some absurd reconstructions of what happened. These are complex issues: ports, bridges, the Olympics, concessions, insurance. Technical issues that the technicians are dealing with,” Salvini said, trying to downplay the events. But there is indeed a problem, and it can be seen precisely in the wide assortment of the issues he listed. The decree is an omnibus measure containing more than 200 new legal provisions, not all urgent or necessary, as the President’s office noted.
And it was none other than Giorgia Meloni’s right-hand man, undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano, who put a hard stop to the process, both over the so-called “Save Spinelli” clause on the port of Genoa, later scrapped, which would have lent a hand to businessman Aldo Spinelli, already convicted of corruption, and over the Messina Strait bridge. The tensions between Salvini and Mantovano are one more signal of the internal war among the majority and the fight for influence on the right flank between Salvini and Meloni.
Meanwhile, the Union of Provinces has sounded the alarm on road safety: “We demand answers from Salvini about the cut of €1.7 billion intended for the safety and efficiency of 120,000 kilometers of roads that connect the country.”
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/salvini-recordman-di-inadempienza-trasporti-e-dl-infrastrutture-nel-caos on 2025-05-16