Turin wants to revive the Po River for tourism

New, lighter, electric boats will navigate the waters

Thanks to European recovery funds the Italian city of Turin is looking to revive leisure and educational boat navigation on the river Po, the water artery which crosses its core. This concerns specifically the upstream section of the Michelotti traverse up to Borgo Navile in the Municipality of Moncalieri.

The idea is to not let the waterway and its importance to the city become neglected when it represents an important touristic asset that could allow residents, students and visitors to experience the city from a whole new point of view. The project of equipping the city with new and more environmentally-sound electric boats for the cost of 10 million euros will not become a concrete reality before 2026, however.

E-boats on the river

The funds will also go towards the maintenance and upgrading of the existing embarkation points along the river (Borgo Navile, Le Vallere, Lido swimming pool, Italy '61, Borgo Medievale, Murazzi), for the construction of a storage structure for the boats and the provision of electric charging stations.

For the reactivation of the navigation service, it is foreseen to use boats that are more compact, lighter and with a lower draft than those used in the past. As such, they will be more suitable for navigation in the city stretch of the river and can be safely sheltered when necessary.

The boats, whose estimated cost is 1 million euros each, will be able to accommodate up to 64 passengers with 2 crew members. A part of the hull will be closed and sheltered (equipped with air conditioning) and thanks to large windows it will allow an excellent view of the landscape.

"This is an intervention that is part of the great project for the re-functionalization of the city", explained Stefano Lo Russo, mayor of Turin, for TorinoToday, adding "The Po is an important landscape value for our city that has been somewhat neglected in the past years. We have the opportunity to revitalize it by making it truly an axis of sporting, creative and touristic development."