Webuild to deliver 15 km Italian rail tunnel

The Webuild Group has secured a major new infrastructure contract for the Salerno–Reggio Calabria high-speed rail line in southern Italy. Valued at €1.6 billion (£1.36 billion), the contract covers the design and construction of the 22.2 km Paola–Cosenza section, including a new 15.3 km double-bore tunnel beneath the Apennines.

Commissioned by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), the project aims to double the existing single-track railway between the Tyrrhenian coast and inland Calabria. Nearly the entire route will run underground, with excavation to be carried out using four tunnel boring machines (TBMs). The new Santomarco Tunnel will run approximately 100 metres from the current alignment, which will be decommissioned once construction is complete.

The contract was awarded to a consortium led by Webuild, with partners Ghella, Pizzarotti, and SELI — Webuild’s in-house tunnelling specialist. The project is expected to employ up to 1,500 workers, including subcontractors and third-party personnel.

As well as the tunnel, the works will include nine railway bridges and two concrete viaducts. One structure — 350 metres long — will span the A2 motorway, while another, 205 metres long, will cross the Settimo stream. A new station will also be built in Montalto Uffugo to serve the university town of Rende.

The scheme forms part of the TEN-T Scandinavian–Mediterranean corridor, intended to improve rail links between southern Italy and northern Europe. Once complete, the new infrastructure will reduce travel times between Rome and Reggio Calabria and expand high-capacity rail access to currently underserved areas, including Cosenza and the Ionian coast.

Webuild is already working on Lot 1A of the same line between Battipaglia and Romagnano. In that section, the company recently launched Europe’s largest TBM to begin work on the Saginara Tunnel. Altogether, Webuild will be responsible for around 60 km of high-speed line on the Salerno–Reggio Calabria route.

According to the company, this latest award brings the number of major projects under way in southern Italy and the islands to 19, including over 320 km of high-speed and high-capacity railway. To deliver these works, Webuild reports a combined workforce of 8,700 and has engaged more than 7,600 suppliers since work began.