Italy marks start of construction of Florence high-speed loop and station
All the stakeholders of the 7-kilometre Florence bypass and the new Belfiore station were out on Monday for the official start of construction . The Florence high-speed loop and station construction is a 2.7-billion-euro project, scheduled for completion in 2028.
With the new railway under-crossing of the city, RFI wants to untangle high-speed and regional traffic in the area. The project’s two 7.47-kilometre tunnels, which will built at a depth of around 20 metres, will free up space aboveground. This is forecast to increase the number of services there by 50 per cent.
Two tunnel boring machine will be utilised, and they will advance at a rate of 12 metres per day. The tunnel route sits between Firenze Castello station and the centrally located Firenze Campo di Marte station. Excavation activities are expected to commence this summer.
The planned bypass will be served by the future Firenze Belfiore station, which is planned in the Belfiore-Macelli area. Belfiore will occupy and area of 45,000 square metres and features a structure 450 metres in length, 50 metres in width and a maximum hight of 25 metres above street level. Two high-speed services will call at the new station in the future.
Belfiore will be interconnected with the nearby central Santa Maria Novella station so that a link to the trains of the Metropolitan Railway System (SFM) is established. A connection with tram line 2 and the new Circondaria railway stop will also be established.
The entire project will be carried out for Rete Ferroviaria Italiana by FS Italiane’s construction division. Italferr is responsible for project management. Present at the start of construction were Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini and FS Italiane ceo Carlo Luzzatto, underscoring the importance of the work.
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