Foreign minister Antonio Tajani will hold talks this week with French counterpart Catherine Colonna after Sunday's dramatic landslide in the Alps halted transborder rail services and closed the Frejus tunnel to heavy trucks indefinitely.
'The Government is committed to resolving the issues related to Frejus and the Mont Blanc Tunnel with France," Tajani wrote Tuesday on X.
"We are working to give shared answers to our territories. On Thursday I will see my French colleague Catherine Colonna in Toledo to find the quickest and most effective solutions''.
The Frejus tunnel connecting France and Italy under the Alps has been closed to vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, whose drivers are being advised to use the Mont Blanc tunnel or the A8 motorway instead.
But the Mont Blanc tunnel is set to close on 4 September for over three months, amid concerns over the economic impact of the repairs and maintenance work and the disruption to traffic between Italy and France.
If the Frejus tunnel cannot reopen to HGVs before the Mont Blanc tunnel's closure, haulier firms fear their drivers will have to make many long, expensive and time-consuming de-tours.
The Italian-French Intergovernmental Commission for the Turin-Lyon railway line said on Monday that France's state-owned railway operator Sncf had halted all train services to Italy "for an indefinite period".
The huge rockslide occurred in the Maurienne valley of the French Alps on Sunday afternoon.
