Italy’s Webuild Group has begun building the €2.5bn Verona-Bivio di Vicenza section of the high-speed and high-capacity railway between Verona and Padua.
The section is a link in the Mediterranean portion of the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) corridor linking Spain to Ukraine (pictured).
Webuild is building the link as 83% shareholder in a consortium with Hitachi Rail STS for Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (Gruppo FS Italiane).
Contractors must first clear the ground of any possible bombs from the Second World War where a tunnel is to be built in the municipality of San Martino Buonalbergo to take the railway under the A4 highway in eastern Verona.
In December 2020, the consortium will start selecting suppliers to work on the first lot by using what Webuild called an "innovative qualification system".
The first lot will run 44.2km through 13 municipalities to bolster the existing railway. The contract signed in August foresees the work being completed by 2026.
The entire Verona-Padua project is estimated at €4.8bn.
Image: The section is a link in the Mediterranean portion of the EU’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) corridor linking Spain to Ukraine (European Commission)
