Work to Begin on Verona-Padua High-Speed Rail

By TBM News October 27, 2016

The first phase of the high-speed/high-capacity Verona-Padua railway line, designed and built by the IRICAV DUE consortium that includes Salini Impregilo, will be authorized this year, Italy’s Infrastructure and Transport Minister Graziano Delrio has announced. The line will cross the provinces of Verona, Vicenza and Padua, forming part of the Verona–Venice line.

The maximum value of the first phase – “Verona–Vicenza Junction” – is €2.41 billion ($2.63 billion USD), while the total cost of the project is about €5 billion ($5.45 billion USD). The authorization process for the other two remaining phases – crossing Vicenza and connecting Vicenza and Padua – is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.

The consortium members are Salini Impregilo, Astaldi, Società Italiana per Condotte d’Acqua, Lamaro Appalti and Fintecna. The news was announced on the Salini Impregilo website.

The aim of the project is to quadruple the entire Verona-Padua line, including relocating the old line where the two tracks are very close to each other. The new high-speed, double-track line is about 76.5 km long, of which about 36 km alongside the old line. The general characteristics of the first phase involve a total HS/HC line length of 44.25 km, of which 35.654 km will run on open ground, 6.229 km on viaducts and 2.367 km in artificial tunnels.

The new line will travel through the following stations: Verona Porta Vescovo, San Bonifacio, Lonigo, Montebello Vicentino, Vicenza, Lerino, Grisignano di Zocco, Mestrino, Rubano, and Padua.

The Verona-Padua section is part of major infrastructure planning at both Italian and European level, forming an integral part of the east-west Turin-Milan-Venice line, which in turn is a component of the Mediterranean Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network. The project confirms Salini Impregilo’s status as a leader in the high-speed transport sector in Italy. The Group is already working on the Genoa-Milan line, which will strengthen the connections between Liguria’s ports and the main train lines of northern Italy and the rest of Europe.