Saying this as an Italian, your statement misses a [1]. In the last 20-30 years there have been huge improvements on a handful of (highly trafficated) routes,

Saying this as an Italian, your statement misses a [1]. In the last 20-30 years there have been huge improvements on a handful of (highly trafficated) routes, and a corresponding amount of worsening in all the rest. Besides the so-called "digital divide" (widely different possibilities of access to the internet depending on your location), there is a clear "railroad divide", the biggest/main cities are well connected, all the rest is at the same level as (or worse than) the '60's (or even earlier). There is a way to draw maps abstracting from geometrical projections (anamorphic), based on some given parameters, if you choose "travel time by train" what you will get will be a "time cartogram" where Italy is very short (north-south) but very, vey thick (west-east). [1] on selected routes