A team made up of Rome-based contractor Webuild and Japan’s Hitachi Rail has won a section of a €4.8bn high-speed, high-capacity rail line between Verona and Padua.

The Iricav Due consortium will build 44km of the 77km route, which will cross 13 municipalities and quadruple the number of passengers riding the existing line.

Webuild owns 83% of the contract.

Webuild said the project would create around 4,000 direct and indirect jobs.

The link, part of the Turin-Milan-Venice line, is part of the Mediterranean Corridor between Spain and the Ukrainian border. When complete, it will mean that 75% of the Italian population will have access to high-speed rail.