Work has begun on a section of the Verona-Padua high-speed and high-capacity railway line.
The work is being done by the IRICAV 2 consortium, which is led by the Webuild Group. The consortium signed the contract, worth 2.5 billion euros, on 10 August. The section in question will be the first section of a new high-speed and high-capacity railway line between Verona and Padua. The commissioning party is Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), part of FS Italiane. The Webuild Group owns 83 percent of the consortium (Webuild 45.44 percent; Astaldi 37.49 percent), while Hitachi Rail STS owns the remaining 17 percent.
The section of high-speed line will see a total investment by RFI of 2.7 billion euros. It is set to be finished by 2027. It will measure 44.2km, crossing 13 municipalities between Verona and Bivio Vicenza. The existing railway will be quadrupled. This will improve trains services and bolster connections to the European network.
“Just days after delivering the Genoa Bridge, we are very happy to start a new strategic project, this time for mobility in Veneto. It is another piece of infrastructure that we hope will involve a long supply chain, running from north to south. It comes after the start of work on the Ionian highway in Calabria and on the Nodo Ferroviario in Genoa. From south to north, Italy is starting up again, and it is doing it with infrastructure, bringing work to the regions. We are proud to be able to bring our expertise to this project in order to relaunch the country where we have our roots.”
The overall project is worth 2.47 billion euros, with this section being worth 874 million euros. The remaining 1.596 billion euros for the second part of the section will receive its financing within 12 months. The total investment in the railway between Verona and Padua is estimated at 4.8 billion euros. 4.2 billion euros will be available to the general contractor. Work on the first section of this east-west railway line will generate around 4,000 direct and indirect jobs.
This project is a component of the high-speed and high-capacity railway line between Milan and Venice. It will be part of the EU’s TEN-T Mediterranean Corridor, connecting Spain and Ukraine. The new line between Milan and Venice will mean that three quarters of the Italian population will be able to access a high-speed rail service.
“The Genova model has shown that we have before us a great opportunity. Thanks to technical expertise and efficiency and constructive collaboration among institutions, clients and private business, we can finally take on the country’s infrastructure challenges that have existed and been on stand-by for too long. It will also provide opportunities for our young people. We hope that this new project follows the lesson learned from the Genoa Bridge: to build quickly while maintaining quality.”
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