Sicilian €1.2 million high-speed railway project contract awarded

The contract for the construction of Lot 4A between Caltanissetta Xirbi and Nuova Enna in Sicily was recently awarded to an Italian company and consortium partners.

The project includes the development of 27 kilometers of railway, next to the existing one. The route will consist of 20 km of tunnels, 90% of which will be constructed with tunnel boring machines. Another 3 kilometers will be across viaducts.

This part of the project has been budgeted at €1.2 million and is part of the high-speed/high-capacity Palermo-Catania-Messina rail axis. Four more contracts have been awarded on the project, bringing its total value to €3.6 million.

It is estimated that the new railway will make travel times between Palermo and Catania 1-2 hours shorter and create an estimated 4,300 jobs during its construction.

Finally, the new axis is part of the greater Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network.