Rome, 5 October 2020
The construction of the Messina-Catania-Palermo railway axis, as part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor, proceeds with the publication of the two Calls for Tenders pertaining to the Giampilieri-Fiumefreddo doubling lots. Once works are completed, the travel time between Messina and Catania shall be reduced by about 30 minutes, thus allowing a metropolitan service to be developed from Catania to Taormina/Letojanni.
This comes as further confirmation of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group’s commitment to Sicily.
The two Calls for Tenders published in the Official Journal of the European Union are: Fiumefreddo-Taormina-Letojanni, with a tender valued at approximately 672 million euro, and Taormina-Giampilieri at around 1,103 million euro.
The operation – one of the most demanding of the Messina-Catania-Palermo rail route, will complete the doubling of the railway line between Messina and Catania, along with the realisation of 42 kilometres of a new dual track, of which about 37 kilometres are underground and altering the current line.
In addition, the works on-site to double the Bicocca-Catenanuova line are at an advanced stage, whilst for the additional five Palermo-Catania lots, the gathering of opinions from the Higher Council of Public Works is under way, in order to initiate the Service Conferences for approval of final projects.
Finally, the final design for the new underground line from Catania Centrale to Catania Acquicella is proceeding, whilst proceeds the process for acquiring the opinion of the Higher Council of Public Works for taking the railway line underground, for the purpose of extending the Catania airport runway.
The total investment along the Palermo-Catania-Messina railway axis is approximately 9 billion euro, of which 2.3 billion euro is allocated to the doubling of Fiumefreddo-Giampilieri.