ITALY: Infrastructure manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana has signed a €1·82bn contract with the Iricav Due consortium to design and build a section of approach tracks and digital signalling west of Vicenza as part of the Milano – Venezia high speed line programme.
The predecessor companies making up Iricav Due had been appointed as general contractor for the Verona – Vicenza – Padova section of the route as long ago as 1991. The consortium of Webuild Group (83%) and Hitachi Rail (17%) signed the Vicenza approaches contract on July 27.
The 6·2 km western approach link to Vicenza would branch off the Verona – Padova high speed line at Altavilla and run into Vicenza’s main station. The project also covers renewal of 4·8 km of existing lines around the city.
Webuild Group will be responsible for the final design of the route, and for the civil works. Hitachi Rail will provide signalling equipment, including ETCS Level 2.
‘We are particularly proud of this order: our ERTMS digital signalling will deliver for the customer and the passenger alike. Once installed, the system will enable a service that can safely travel at greater speed and with increased capacity on the line’, said Luca D’Aquila, Chief Operating Officer of Hitachi Rail Group and CEO of Hitachi Rail Italy.
Of the 76·5 km section between Verona and Padova, construction is approximately 35% complete on the 44·2 km Verona – Altavilla segment. The remaining 26 km from Vicenza to Padova is still in the planning phase.
- A feature article on the Milano – Verona high speed line appeared in the May 2018 issue of Railway Gazette International.
