Naples, 24 March 2017
The contract has been awarded for the design and execution of the works to double the line and increase speed on the Cancello-Frasso Telesino line, an important part of the new High Speed/High Capacity Naples - Bari line.
The contract was assigned by Italferr, the FS Italiane Group's engineering company, on behalf of Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, to the consortium (RTI) formed by Pizzarotti (group leader), Itinera and Ghella for a value of 312 million Euros.
The award of the Cancello-Frasso Telesino lot comes soon after the Naples-Cancello variant was awarded, while the Cervaro-Bovino section, currently in the final stages of work on the Apulian side, will be opened in a few months' time. This is a concrete confirmation of the commitment by RFI to completing the work in line with the targets and timetable established by the "Sblocca Italia" law. The two lots just awarded will be activated in 2022.
After all the works are concluded, there will be guaranteed fast connections between Naples and Bari and easier rail travel among the main urban centres in Campania and Apulia, extending the "Iron Therapy" to the South as required by the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Graziano Delrio.
Part of the new rail track running from Cancello to Frasso Telesino (over 16 km, of which about 3 km of viaducts and over 4 km of natural tunnels) will run alongside the existing line, and part will take the variant for about 6 km. The maximum speed will be 200 km/h, and two new stops are also planned at Valle di Maddaloni and Dugenta-Frasso Telesino, to serve the area around Caserta and offer a direct connection to Naples, Bari and Benevento.
The doubling and the speeding up of the line between Cancello and Frasso Telesino will allow the number of passengers and goods travelling by rail to increase, as well as promoting modal transfers with other transport methods.
The new HS/HC Naples-Bari line, costing an estimated total of around 6.2 billion Euros, is included in the European TEN-T Scandinavia-Mediterranean railway corridor, linking Northern Europe to Germany and Southern Italy, passing through the Brenner base tunnel, under construction.