The contract – Lot 4b – covers the design and construction of the Nuova Enna-Dittaino. Webuild will lead the consortium with a 70% stake, with partner Pizzarotti having the remaining 30%.

The project, commissioned by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), the infrastructure division of Italian state railway operator Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS), will be financed through Italy’s National Plan for Recovery and Resilience (PNRR).

Works is expected to start before the end of the year. The construction of Lot 4b is expected to create 650 jobs, direct and indirect, and involve a supply chain of 100 companies. Webuild is already involved in the construction of the Bicocca Catenanuova, another section of the same Palermo-Catania line.

Lot 4b includes the construction of 15 kilometres of new railway, 8.5 kilometres of which will pass through three tunnels, and another two kilometres over five viaducts. It also involves the construction of a new railway station, at Enna, and the modernisation of the existing station at Dittaino.

Key features of the successful bid included measures to minimise the impact that the works will have on the surrounding countryside.

Proposals to contribute to a “circular economy” were also key. The consortium intends to reuse up to 99% of all the earth excavated, recover and reuse rain and industrial water and optimise energy efficiency through the use of solar panels.

The Palermo-Catania railway forms part of the European Union’s Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T). Webuild is already contributing to the development of the network in other parts of Italy on projects such as the Terzo Valico dei Giovi-Genoa Junction high-speed rail project, the Brenner Base Tunnel under the Alps, linking Italy with Austria, and a number of sections of the high-speed railway between Naples and Bari in the south.