Webuild’s €1.2 billion contract to upgrade Sicilian rail network

Graphic showing the scale of the Webuild consortium’s latest rail project. Image: Webuild

The contract for Lot 4A, awarded by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) of Gruppo FS Italiane and financed by the EU’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), involves the construction of 27km of railway between the central stations of Caltanissetta Xirbi and Nuova Enna.

The scope of work involves the construction of a new rail line next to the existing one and includes 20km of tunnels, of which 90% will be excavated by tunnel-boring machines. A further 3km of the line will run across viaducts.

Jobs for years to come

The project is one of five lots to be developed by Webuild, for a combined value of approximately €3.6 billion.

The upgraded railway is expected to reduce travel times between Palermo and Catania by 60 minutes to two hours, and work on the five lots is estimated to create up to 4,300 direct and indirect jobs, with the direct involvement of more than 580 direct suppliers, half of which will come from southern Italy and the Italian islands.

Webuild will lead the project consortium with a 75% stake, with partner Ghella holding 25%.

The work will be led by Webuild, with SELI Overseas (part of the Webuild Group), Ghella and TunnelPro (part of the Ghella Group).

The new Palermo-Catania-Messina axis is a strategic project for Sicily and Italy and part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor of the Trans-European Network for Transport (TEN-T).