Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) awarded the consortium of Webuild Group, Ghella and Impresa Pizzarotti two contracts worth EUR 3.7 billion to develop rail infrastructure in Southern Italy.
As leader of the consortium, the group has won a contract worth more than EUR 2 billion to build a section of a new high-speed railway along the Salerno – Reggio Calabria between Battipaglia (Lot 1A) and Romagnano. The second contract worth EUR 1.65 billion is for the construction of Lot 3 between Lercara and Caltanissetta Xirbi for the railway between Palermo and Catania.
Webuild will lead the consortium involved in the two contracts with a 60% stake, with Ghella having 20% and Impresa Pizzarotti 20%.
Lot 1A of the Salerno – Reggio Calabria axis involves the design and construction of 35 km of rail, along which trains will travel at speeds of up to 300 km/h. It includes the construction of approximately 14 km of tunnels to be excavated also by tunnel-boring machine (TBM), more than 6 km of viaducts and nearly 5 km of artificial tunnels. There will also be a juncture built at Romagnano to connect the new line with the existing one that runs from Battipaglia to Metaponto and Potenza. The contract is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs.
Lot 3 Lercara – Caltanissetta Xirbi in Sicily concerns the development of 47 km of new rail, as well as the construction of more than 22 km of tunnels including interconnections, excavated also by tunnel-boring machine. There will also be 11 km of viaducts, 32 km of roadwork and the renovation of the Vallelunga station. An estimated 1,500 jobs are to be created, directly and indirectly.
Webuild is working on five other lots along the new railway that will connect Palermo, Catania and Messina, involving more than 580 direct suppliers from the start of works to today, half of which are from the region. These lots are the Bicocca-Catenanuova, Nuova Enna-Dittaino and Caltanissetta Xirbi-Nuova Enna between Palermo and Catania, and the Taormina-Giampilieri and Fiumefreddo-Taormina/Letojanni between Catania and Messina.
Webuild says that with these two contracts is reaching EUR 13.7 billion in new orders that are acquired or in the phase of being finalised since the start of the year. The contracts bring to 19 the number of projects on which Webuild is working in southern Italy, involving more than 3,800 suppliers. The projects are strategic for sustainable mobility in Italy, also within the framework of energy transition, that will better connect the northern and southern regions of Italy. They will support the country’s development and growth, improving its competitiveness.
These contracts are financed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and once completed, will expand and integrate the rail infrastructure in Southern Italy and its connections with the other parts of the country.
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