Italian construction giant WeBuild won the tender to upgrade the railway section between Fiumetorto and Lercara, in Sicily, and make it a high-capacity and high-velocity line. The value of the tender assigned by Italian infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana is 1,32 billion euros, as WeBuild mentioned.

Out of the 30 kilometres of the new line, 20 will be in tunnels and two on a viaduct. When it comes to the covered sections, two double-barrel single-track tunnels will be dug using four tunnel-boring machines. The project, which also includes the construction and upgrade of three stations, was approved by the Sicily Region in November 2022. Sicily is the southern starting point of the Scandiavian-Mediterranean Corridor and significant upgrades are needed throughout the island since the current infrastructure is scarce and old.

Upgrades planned in Sicily

The project for the Fiumetorto-Lercara section is part of a massive plan to improve rail infrastructure for both freight and passengers on the Palermo-Catania line, crossing the island from northwest to the east. For the upgrade of the whole line, almost 5 billion euros have been allocated, and WeBuild is currently working on seven different projects of it. The upgrade of the Fiumetorto-Lercara section is part of a larger project itself, as can be seen in the picture below. The track between Fuimetorto and Bicocca, on the island’s east coast, will all be doubled, significantly reducing transit time between the two cities from three to two hours. Moreover, FS pointed out that the upgrade of this section aims at creating the conditions to develop freight train traffic on the island.

Image: © WeBuild

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