The Genoa-Milan High-Speed, High-Capacity Railway Line, also known as Terzo Valico dei Giovi (Terzo Valico), is being constructed to improve the railway connections between the Ligurian bay ports and the northern Tyrrhenian Sea ports with railway lines in northern Italy and the rest of Europe.
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The project forms part of the Rhine-Alpine Corridor, one of the corridors of the larger trans-European transport network (TEN-T core network), which connects Europe’s most populated and influential industrial regions.
Italian railway company Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) is the project client, whereas Italferr is supervising the project, and the COCIV Consortium comprising Salini-Impregilo (64%), Condotte (31%) and CIV (5%) has been appointed as the general contractor.
The final design works for the project started in September 2003, construction works started in April 2012, and commissioning is scheduled for 2020.
Project benefits
The project will redirect the freight traffic from road to rail, bringing about environmental, safety and economic benefits, and is expected to generate approximately 4,000 jobs during the peak construction phase.
In addition, the project will also shorten the journey time for cargo traffic that comes from the Far East in the Mediterranean by choosing the Ligurian bay ports and the northern Tyrrhenian Sea ports, to the North Sea ports.
Terzo Valico project details
The new Italian high-speed / high-capacity railway line will be 53km-long, of which 37km will comprise tunnels. It will traverse 12 municipalities in the provinces of Genoa and Alessandria, and the regions of Liguria and Piemont.
The southern section of the line will have interconnections at Voltri and the Bivio Fegino, connecting with the railway facilities in Genoa. The northern section, with a main intersection at Novi Ligure, will connect with the existing Genoa-Torino line for traffic in the direction of Turin and Novara-Simplon, and the Tortona-Piacenza line for traffic in the direction of Milan San Gottardo.
The line’s interconnections will be approximately 23km-long. The section of the line stretching between Genoa (Bivio Fegino) and the Plain of Novi will primarily comprise tunnels, except for a short stretch in the open at Libarna.
The new line will enable trains to reach speeds of up to 250km/h, whereas the designed maximum speed limit on the intersections will be between 100km/h and 160km/h. The maximum design grade of the line and the intersections will be 12.5%.
The line will be equipped with Level 2 European Railway Traffic Management System / European Train Control System (ERTMS / ETCS) and electrified with 3kV DC and 25kV AC wiring.
The project also involves the upgrade and construction of 30km of roads to complement the construction activities and ease the traffic during the construction phase.
Genoa-Milan high-speed line construction
The construction works are divided into six lots. Construction works for Lot 1 and 2, which also entails road upgrades, are currently in progress.
Naples-Afragola (Napoli-Afragola) is a proposed high-speed railway station in the metropolitan city of Naples, Italy.
The excavation works for the Campasso Tunnel, performed as part of Lot 1, was completed in July 2015. The 600m-long tunnel, located within the City of Genoa, will connect the new Terzo Valico with the existing Succursale dei Giovi (Genoa-Milan-Turin route) line.
The main Valico tunnel, which will be approximately 27km-long, is being constructed under Lot 2, while Lot 3 entails the construction of the Serravalle tunnel. The tunnels are designed to be adjacent, single-track tunnels adjoined by cross-connections.
Financing for the Italian high-speed rail project
The project is estimated to require an investment of €6.2bn (approximately $6.8bn). Construction of Lot 1 is expected to cost €430m (approximately $478m). Project financing amounting to €500m (approximately $556m) for Lot 1 is being provided by Comitato interministeriale per la programmazione economica (Interministerial Committee for Economic Planning – CIPE).
The Lot 3 is estimated to cost €607m (approximately $675m) and achieved financial closure in January 2015.
