Italian contractor Webuild, formerly known as Salini Impregilo, has won a contract worth €1bn to double capacity on the railway between the northeast Sicilian cities of Messina and Catania.
The company will work in a joint venture with Parma-based engineer Pizzarotti. It will take 70% of the project, with Pizzarotti holding the remainder.
Commissioned by state rail infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, the project will include 28km of new line, as well as the associated electrification, signalling and communications work. There will also be two single tunnels, six parallel tunnels and seven viaducts.
As well as the line itself, there will be a transit hub at Fiumefreddo, an underground station at the town of Taormina, and five open-air stations.
The new line, known as the Taormina-Giampilieri lot, will join the existing link near Fiumefreddo station, and connect it to Giampilieri station. It will run mainly through tunnels and further away from the coast than the existing line.
The project will be Webuild’s largest in Sicily. It is already working on the Bicocca-Catenanuova section of the Palermo-Catania railway, which will allow trains to go at speeds of up to 200km/h.
Image: The town of Taormina will have a new underground station (Dreamstime)
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