Voters stop Locarno railroad station project
The Ticino electorate rejected the planned redesign of Locarno-Muralto railroad station by just 102 votes to one. Despite its regional importance and planned improvements for pedestrians and cyclists, the 16 million euro project failed due to opposition from local businesses.
The proposal to redesign the Locarno-Muralto train station was narrowly rejected with a voter turnout of 31%. 33,723 no votes were cast against 33,621 yes votes. The project was thus stopped by a wafer-thin margin of 102 votes. A result that shows how controversial urban planning interventions can be, even for regionally important infrastructure projects.
Planned investments for greater clarity and mobility
The project would have involved a comprehensive upgrade of the transport hub with a total volume of CHF 16 million. The canton of Ticino would have borne around CHF 7 million of this. The plan was to focus more strongly on pedestrian and bicycle traffic and to organize the bus bays more efficiently. The aim was to improve multimodal connections to the station and make public transport clearer and more accessible.
Opposition from the business community
The project faced particular opposition from businesses and restaurants around Viale Cattori. They feared that the increased bus frequency – more than 250 buses per day – would impair the quality of life on the lakeside promenade. The loss of direct access routes for motorized private transport to stores and restaurants was also seen as a significant disadvantage. Opponents argued that this could jeopardize the economic attractiveness of the zone.
Infrastructure project with conflicting local objectives
The rejection of the station redesign in Locarno is a good example of the tensions between the mobility turnaround, urban development and local economic interests. Despite clear advantages in terms of traffic and design, the project was not able to prevail. This was mainly due to the feared disadvantages for the existing business location. For future infrastructure projects with an impact on urban development, this will serve as a reminder to involve affected interest groups in the dialog early and comprehensively.