Webuild Completes Casalnuovo Tunnel on Naples-Bari High-speed Line

The high speed/high-capacity Naples-Bari railway line on July 21 reached an important threshold, as the Casalnuovo Tunnel on the Naples-Cancello route has now been completed, built by Webuild on behalf of RFI (FS Italiane Group). The tunnel is one of the most complex and innovative engineering works of the entire line. Built for the very first time in Italy using the hyperbaric method, it opens a path towards a new threshold: from the end of 2025, it will reduce the time it takes to move between the two cities to just 2 hours and 40 minutes; while from the first months of 2026, the trains of the new railway line being built will reach the HS Afragola Station.

Approximately 650 m of the new tunnel have been excavated without interruption, day and night, seven days a week, crossing a hugely dense demographic area. This was possible thanks to this innovative technique that has been used a few times, even at a European level. The method uses pressurized air to keep the groundwater away from the work areas and carry out excavations in a dry environment, therefore also ensuring benefits from an environmental perspective, as it allows the stratum not to enter into contact with cement mixes and chemical additives. All the means used to excavate were electric, with zero emissions.

The tunnel was hermetically isolated to allow works to be carried out. It was also divided into watertight compartments, and workers were allowed to enter by passing through a compensation chamber, where pressure was gradually raised to allow them to get used to the hyperbaric environment. The complexity of the excavation required an efficient logistic organization and an innovative and sustainable system. Specific health protocols, procedures and monitoring systems were also used to ensure workers’ safety and health during excavations.

Also, on the Naples-Cancello route, which represents the first section of the to-be HS/HC Naples-Bari line, the track installation that began in February continues heading towards Naples. Over 10 km of tracks have been laid as of late July, and the activity will be completed by the end of summer.

When the Naples-Cancello and Cancello-Frasso sections will start to be used, from the end of 2025, travel times between Naples and Bari will be, for the very first time, reduced to 2 hours and 40 minutes against the current 4 hours, and without changing trains. The activation of the Naples-Cancello section during the first months of 2026, will also allow the HS/HC Naples-Bari trains to reach the Napoli Afragola station, which will become, when fully operational, a strategic hub to connect the North and South of Italy and regional and national transport systems. The new Acerra and Casalnuovo stations will also begin to be used, which will allow greater access to the high-speed railway system for a large territory of the Naples metropolitan area, comprised between Casoria, Casalnuovo, Afragola, Caivano and Acerra.

In total, the to-be high-speed line between Naples and Bari will be 145 km long (new railway), with 15 new tunnels and 25 viaducts, serving an overall of 20 stations and stops along the route. When works are finished on the entire route, it will be possible to connect Naples to Bari in just 2 hours against the current 4; Rome and Bari in 3 hours; and Lecce and Taranto towards Rome in 4 hours. The line is a fundamental piece for future sustainable mobility in the South of Italy. It is an integral part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor of the TEN-T network, a strategic axis to connect the South of Italy to the North of Italy, and then to Europe.

The HS/HC Naples-Bari railway line is one of the 19 projects that Webuild is building in the South of Italy, islands included, among which also the large works commissioned by RFI (FS Italiane Group) that foresee building over 300 km of new high-speed/high-capacity railway line, employing, as of today, over 8,100 people (direct and third party), engaging a supply chain of 5,400 companies since works began.

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