Webuild consortium wins €1.3 billion high-capacity rail contract

A Webuild-led consortium has won another two lots on a package of work to upgrade Sicily’s rail network (Image: Webuild)

Italian contractor Webuild will head the consortium that has won a €1.3 billion (US$1.4 billion) contract to build a high-capacity rail line in Sicily.

The 30km-long section of rail line between Palermo and Catania doubles the Fiumetorto-Lercara railway junction, with the aim of reducing travel times between the island’s main cities. It is part of a wider upgrade to Sicily’s rail network, on which Webuild already holds several other contracts.

Webuild has a 75% stake in the consortium, including 5% held by its Seli Overseas subsidiary. Its partner Ghella holds the remaining 25%, including 10% owned by its subsidiary TunnelPro.

The work its split into two lots, which will include 20 kilometres of parallel tunnels to accommodate travel in both directions, more than two kilometres of road and rail viaducts, more than seven kilometres of roads, and three stations.

The consortium will build one new station – Valle del Torto – and upgrade two more – Cerda and Lercara.

Webuild and Ghella will apply systems to recover and reuse rainwater and that used in industrial processes. They will use four tunnel-boring machines (TBMs). The stations will come equipped with systems to ensure a more efficient use of water and the capture of rain.

Along the railway being modernised to connect Palermo, Catania and Messina, Webuild is working on seven other sections, apart from the latest awarded contract, they include the Bicocca-Catenanuova, Nuova Enna-Dittaino and Caltanissetta Xirbi-Nuova Enna and Lercara-Caltanissetta Xirbi between Palermo and Catania; and sections Taormina-Giampilieri and Fiumefreddo-Taormina/Letojanni between Catania and Messina.