The event to present the final results at the end of Interporto Padova’s project “Enhancing the efficiency of the new container terminal of Interporto di Padova”, financed by the CEF European Programme, was held on 20 November at the Brussels headquarters of the Veneto Region.

The action, which included the installation of 4 electric gantry cranes in the container terminal as well as works to adapt part of the tracks to the length of 750 m required by European standards, for a total investment of more than €20 million, was concluded a few months earlier than originally planned in the timetable, testifying to the great commitment with which the Interporto Company is pursuing the objective of modernising the Padua terminal and making it more efficient.

Welcoming the guests in attendance were the President of Interporto Padua, Sergio Gelain, the Transport Councillor of the Veneto Region, Elisa De Berti, and Cristobàl Millàn De La Lastra, Unit Director of INEA, the European Agency that financed the project, whose unanimous opinion was to emphasise the praise to be given to Interporto as a virtuous example for the implementation of a well-structured project.

In particular, councillor Elisa De Berti said she was honoured to have witnessed the entire project process in an institutional capacity, something that rarely happens in the course of a regional legislature, having also participated in the project’s opening event held in Padua in March 2018 during the first edition of Green Logistics Expo, thus becoming a sort of ‘godmother’.

Among the scheduled speeches at the event was also the engineer Federica Polce from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, who coordinated the different phases of the project at ministerial level, for the subsequent submission of funding applications to the European headquarters.

At the end of her speech, in which she took stock of the European economic support for Italian transport infrastructures, which have benefited from a contribution of EUR 1.6 billion through the CEF programme, divided among 90 projects for a total investment of around EUR 4 billion, she dwelt on the results and performance achieved by this project in particular, highlighting how the efficient use of European funds in its management makes it an example of best practice for future projects.

In closing, after the presentation of the project’s numerical data by the General Manager of Interporto Padua, Roberto Tosetto, and Dr. Andrea Ballarin, the company thanked the institutions present who in various ways facilitated and made this important project possible, which also creates the conditions for a goodbye to new development initiatives