Genoa, 23 June 2026
Excavation works on the 2 km-long Polcevera ventilation tunnel, part of the Terzo Valico dei Giovi – Genoa Junction Single Project, were completed today. The project was supervised by the General Contractor led by Webuild on behalf of RFI (FS Italiane Group), with the support of FS Engineering (FS Italiane Group), under the supervision of the Extraordinary Government Commissioner, Calogero Mauceri.
COSSI Costruzioni (Webuild Group) was in charge of the works on the tunnel, on 4 excavation sites simultaneously, to reduce building times while ensuring the highest operational and safety standards.
The construction of the Polcevera ventilation tunnel, which began at the end of October 2024, has overcome significant technical and logistical challenges. The first excavation front went under the Genoa-Milan railway line, with the tunnel being excavated merely 18 metres below the tracks above, which remained constantly running, without any disruption or impact on railway services. Two parallel additional excavation sites were opened in February 2025, which proceeded simultaneously in opposite directions along the tunnel’s axis to speed up the operations. And a fourth excavation site was created to widen the tunnel section and create the underground rooms – technical spaces that will house the future ventilation system units.
A further step forward in the Terzo Valico dei Giovi–Genoa Junction Single Project, part of the European TEN-T Rhine-Alps Corridor, one of the continent’s busiest transport routes. The project will strengthen the link between the Ligurian ports, Northern Italy industrial hubs, and Europe. Once fully operational, it will reduce journey times between Genoa and Milan to around one hour, thereby increasing the network’s capacity and reliability. The project is connected to the existing line through 4 main interconnections (Voltri, Genova Parco Campasso, Novi Ligure and Tortona) and by upgrading the Genoa railway hub.