Preliminary works have begun on the new industrial railway plant in Arbedo-Castione, located in the Swiss canton of Ticino. Valued at approximately EUR 310 million, the project is led by CSC Costruzioni, part of the Webuild Group, which holds a 67% stake in the Consorzio Officine Ticinesi (OFT), in partnership with Sottas.
The contract encompasses preparatory activities for the start of construction and the development of the main building, auxiliary technical structures, and surrounding external areas.
The Consorzio Officine Ticinesi OFT will first take care of the preparatory work, such as the installation of the construction site, the excavations, and then the overall execution, specifically the construction of the main building, the annexed technical buildings and the works for the outdoor spaces. According to the current planning, the preparatory phase will take place over the next few months while the executive phase will begin in June 2025. The New Railway Industrial Facility (NSIF) is expected to be put into operation from July 2028.
The new industrial railway plant (NSIF) will serve as a state-of-the-art hub for maintaining electric trains and locomotives and is designed to operate exclusively on renewable energy and will incorporate advanced digital technologies.
The NSIF provides at least 360 full-time jobs and 80 apprentices. The total investment amounts to CHF 755 million (EUR 811.7 million), supported by the SBB, the Canton of Ticino, the City of Bellinzona and the Swiss Confederation. The plant will mainly deal with the light and heavy maintenance of the new electric trains – Giruno, ETR and Flirt TILO – for a total of 114 vehicles, and about 100 locomotives, with an increase in electromechanical activities and a high degree of digitalization. From the point of view of the ecological impact, the NSIF will be equipped with a green roof and photovoltaic panels and will not use fossil fuels.
The contract for the new industrial railway plant been awarded in May 2023 by the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) but has been appealed.
In November, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court rejected the appeal against the awarding of the project for the construction of the new industrial railway plant (NSIF) at Arbedo-Castione.
On 23 May 2024, SBB announced the awarding of the contract to the Consorzio Officine Ticinesi OFT. An excluded consortium lodged an appeal with the Federal Administrative Court (FAC) against the award requesting that the ruling and its own exclusion from the award procedure be quashed, that the documents be transferred back to the contracting authority and that its tender be re-evaluated after reintroduction into the proceedings. The appellant undertakings essentially challenged the lawfulness of their exclusion from the award procedure.
Determining that the facts were properly examined at the tender evaluation stage, the FAC upholds the finding of the contracting authority that the appellants had not complied with the prohibition of subcontracting explicitly foreseen in the invitation to tender and the specifications for the metal construction works. The FAC concludes that the failure to comply with a significant requirement regarding the invitation to tender justifies the appellants’ exclusion from the award procedure. The FAC therefore rejected the appeal.
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