Courtesy of Webuild Group
Construction crews work at a tunnel portal along the Salerno–Reggio Calabria high-speed rail corridor. The $1.75-billion Paola–Cosenza section includes 17 km of new tunneling, highlighted by the 15.4-km Santomarco Tunnel.
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), the Italian government’s railway infrastructure manager, has tapped a consortium led by Webuild to design and build the Paola–Cosenza section of the Salerno–Reggio Calabria high-speed line in a $1.75-billion contract.
Webuild holds a 60% share, joined by SELI, Ghella and Impresa Pizzarotti, according to the company announcement. According to Railway PRO, the project is expected to be completed by 2032; Webuild did not respond to ENR’s request for comment on the timeline.
The team will build 22 kilometers of new double-track line in Calabria, almost entirely underground, with the 15.4-km Santomarco Tunnel as its centerpiece. Four tunnel-boring machines will excavate most of the alignment, but faulted and water-laden zones will require traditional excavation, Webuild noted.
The scope also includes nine bridges, two viaducts and a new station at Montalto Uffugo for the University of Calabria.
Engineers face faulted ground and shifting hydrogeology along the alignment, requiring a mix of mechanized and conventional tunneling. Surface works intersect rivers and drainage channels, necessitating extensive water management. Environmental safeguards include vibration monitoring and strict spoil controls, according to Rete Ferroviaria Italiana.
European Corridor Priority
The Salerno–Reggio Calabria line forms part of the EU’s Scandinavian–Mediterranean TEN-T network, identified by the European Commission as one of nine “core” transport corridors across the continent.
Travel time between Rome and Reggio Calabria is projected to drop to three hours and forty minutes, from today’s five hours.
Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini framed the works as “central to completing the Scan-Med corridor and boosting access to Southern Italy,” adding in remarks reported by Reuters that, “This railway is not only a national priority—it is Europe’s investment in Italy’s future. We will not let technical or criminal obstacles derail progress.”
Paola–Cosenza’s $79-million/km cost aligns with other tunnel-dominated works. By comparison, RFI places Naples–Bari at $6.32 billion for 145 km, or about $43.6M/km, on its Naples–Bari project page. On Sicily, RFI values the Taormina–Giampilieri segment of the Palermo–Catania–Messina corridor at $1.56 billion for 28 km, or $55.7M/km.
The government’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, summarized in a parliamentary dossier reviewed by ENR, supports the southern rail push with $5.05 billion in loans. One of the first sections to advance under this funding is the 35-km Battipaglia–Romagnano line, budgeted at $1.96 billion.
Construction there is already underway with the help of “Partenope,” a 13.46-m tunnel-boring machine weighing 4,000 tons with 10 MW of power that Webuild says is the largest in Europe.
Italy’s SILOS infrastructure portal currently pegs the overall 445-km Salerno–Reggio Calabria line at about $12.2 billion.
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Economic Footprint
Webuild estimates 1,500 workers will be employed on Paola–Cosenza, while its southern Italy portfolio spans 19 projects totaling 320 km of high-speed rail, engaging about 8,700 people and thousands of suppliers.
RFI highlights both economic and social impacts: freight bound for Gioia Tauro port will run more efficiently, while tourists heading to Cilento, Vallo di Diano and Calabria’s Ionian coast will have faster access.
“The project will significantly improve the capacity and efficiency of the railway connection between the Tyrrhenian coast and inland areas of Calabria, ensuring better accessibility to Cosenza and strengthening the Bari–Taranto–Gioia Tauro freight route,” Webuild said.
Bryan Gottlieb is the online editor at Engineering News-Record (ENR).
Gottlieb is a five-time Society of Professional Journalists Excellence in Journalism award winner with more than a decade of experience covering business, construction, and community issues. He has worked at Adweek, managed a community newsroom in Santa Monica, Calif., and reported on finance, law, and real estate for the San Diego Daily Transcript. He later served as editor-in-chief of the Detroit Metro Times and was managing editor at Roofing Contractor, where he helped shape national industry coverage. Gottlieb covers breaking news, large-scale infrastructure projects, new products and business
email: gottliebb@enr.com | office: (248) 786-1591