Bicocca-Catenanuova: First section of the new railway line in Sicily inaugurated

Wednesday 29 October marks a historic date for Sicily: the first section of the island’s new high-capacity railway line comes into operation.

The Bicocca-Catenanuova section, 38 kilometres long, is the first double-track line in the region and the first completed section of the Palermo-Catania-Messina route, built by Webuild for Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (Italian State Railways Group).

Starting from 2 November, RFI will activate commercial traffic on the line, opening the way to a new era for Sicilian rail transport, where trains will travel at up to 160 km/h and journey times between Catania and Catenanuova will fall from 25 to 17 minutes.

The new railway line is also part of the Trans-European Transport Network’s (TEN-T) Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor, the railway axis that connects Helsinki to Valletta.

It is an infrastructure project that integrates Sicily into the European high-capacity/high-speed and sustainable logistics network, bringing a modern, efficient railway to the island for the first time, interconnected with the rest of the continent

The entire route of the Bicocca-Catenanuova section is developed outdoors with 17 viaducts, 8 overpasses and two artificial tunnels that define a new infrastructure integrated into the landscape of the Plain of Catania.

The design has included the elimination of all level crossings to ensure smoother and safer road traffic. The stations of Catania Bicocca, Motta Santa Anastasia, Sferro and Catenanuova have also been upgraded to accommodate the connection of the double track.

Sustainability guided site activities in every phase of the project: 700,000 m³ of excavation material was reused, avoiding landfill disposal and reducing CO₂ emissions by over 12,000 tonnes per year, with the commissioning of this section.

Particular attention was then paid to the issue of water scarcity, which affects this and many other areas of Sicily. During the work, Webuild and RFI transformed the water crisis into an opportunity by funding a parallel infrastructure construction project that involved the replacement of 25 kilometres of underground water pipelines, in collaboration with the Reclamation Consortium of the Sicilian Region.

The new pipes, made of spheroidal graphite cast iron and high-density polyethylene, ensure maximum resistance and have reduced water leakage to zero, helping to combat the drought that also afflicts the Plain of Catania.

Alongside sustainable logistics and the attention to the territory, the Bicocca-Catenanuova construction site has also been a laboratory of innovation and supply chain development.

Over 500 supplier companies were involved in the construction projects, making a significant contribution to economic growth, in Sicily and beyond.

With the Centre for Studies in Applied Economics to Engineering (CSEI) of the University of Catania, Webuild also tested satellite monitoring of crops near the infrastructure construction sites, in order to protect the citrus groves of the Plain of Catania. This is a concrete example of a sustainable and innovative construction site born from cooperation between the academic world and industry.

The Bicocca–Catenanuova section is the first of the Sicilian projects completed by the Group, which has estimated the creation of 7,000 jobs on the island. Webuild continues to be active in Sicily with seven infrastructure projects, six of which are railway works along the Palermo-Catania-Messina line and one motorway project (the Ragusa highway)

The new Palermo-Catania-Messina railway represents the heart of the infrastructural transformation of the island because, once completed, the line will allow travel from Palermo to Catania in two hours and from Messina to Catania in 45 minutes, encouraging freight train transport and reducing emissions.

This is Sicily changing pace, becoming part of the “European Metro” and finally moving closer to the continent, in the name of sustainability and growth.