RFI kicks off tunnel excavation for Napels-Bari high-speed line in Italy
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) formally set in motion the tunnel excavation works for a section of the Napels-Bari high-speed line in Southern Italy on Wednesday. Present at the launch were minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, as well as local stakeholders. The new section should be inaugurated by 2024.
Dubbed the Cantieri Parlanti project, the work entails a complete overhaul of the line between Frasso Telesino and Vitulano in central Italy. The 30-kilometre section will be given a new layout, an additional set of tracks and will be transitioned to a high-speed, high-capacity railway. Four new stops will be built, whereas the Telese station will be renovated. The 470-million-euro project was granted to the Telese Scarl consortium comprising Ghella, Itinera, Salcef and Coget Impianti. The consortium is headed by Ferrovie dello Stato’s consulting and project company Italferr.
The Telese-Vitulano section will enable high-speed, high-capacity between Napels on the western Tyrrhenian coast of Italy and Bari on the Adriatic coast. Forecast travel time between the two regional capitals will be 2 hours and 40 minutes. The new line is part of the European TEN-T Scandinavian-Mediterranean railway corridor and carries a 5.7-billion-euro price tag. It is scheduled for completion in 2027.
Across the Tyrrhenian Sea in Sardinia, RFI earlier this week also opened a tender for the the overhaul of San Gavino – Sassari – Olbia line. A new 7-kilometre section at Bauladu, of which 3.3 kilometres are to be tunnelled, should speed up railway services on the line. The aim us to increase the maximum speed to 160 kilometres. The tender has a value of some 84 million euros.
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