Ghella in JV to build Lot 1+2 Fiumetorto - Lercara: 30 kilometres of new railway, part of Palermo-Catania High-Capacity Rail in Sicily
06/06/2023 - 14:31
Rome, 6 June 2023 – Ghella and its consortium partner have won a €1.32-billion contract to build Lot 1+2 Fiumetorto-Lercara part of the high-capacity railway under construction between Palermo and Catania in Sicily. Works entail the development of 30 kilometres of new railway.
Commissioned by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) (Gruppo FS Italiane), the project will support the development of Sicily’s infrastructure and reduce the travel times between the island’s main cities, making rail transport more competitive.
The JV composed by Ghella with a 25% stake (including 10% owned by its subsidiary TunnelPro) and Webuild with a 75% stake (including 5% held by its Seli Overseas subsidiary) will use four tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and advanced technologies and construction methods to ensure maximum sustainability of the project.
Lot 1+2 will include 20 kilometres of parallel tunnels to accommodate travel in both directions, more than 2 kilometres of road and rail viaducts, more than 7 kilometres of roads, and 3 stations. One of the stations – Valle del Torto – will be built and the other two – Cerda and Lercara – will be upgraded. Ghella and Webuild will apply systems to recover and reuse both rainwater and that used for industrial processes. The stations will come equipped with systems to ensure a more efficient use of water and the capture of rain.
As part of the development of the high-capacity railway along the Palermo-Catania axis Ghella has also recently been awarded Lot 4A Caltanissetta Xirbi - Nuova Enna and Lot 3 Lercara - Caltanissetta Xirbi.
The new railway to connect Palermo, Catania and Messina is a strategic project for Sicily and Italy. It will make the transport of people and freight faster and more effective across the island, reducing travel times between Palermo and Catania by one hour, to two hours.
The Palermo-Catania-Messina axis is part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), promoting the connection with the rest of Italy and Europe.