) , type =

High-speed rail High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of rail system that runs significantly faster than traditional rail, using an integrated system of specialised rolling stock and dedicated tracks. While there is no single standard that applies worldwide, lines ...

, system =

Trans-European Transport Networks The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is a planned network of roads, railways, airports and water infrastructure in the European Union. The TEN-T network is part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks (TENs), including a telecommunic ...

, status = Under construction , connectinglines = Turin–Genoa , website
Official website
, yearcommenced = 2013 , planopen = 2025 , linelength_km = 53 , electrification = 3 kV

direct current Direct current (DC) is one-directional flow of electric charge. An electrochemical cell is a prime example of DC power. Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even ...

, speed_km/h = 250 The Tortona–Genoa high-speed railway, also known as Third Pass (), will be a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

designed for high-speed, high-capacity services linking

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

Tortona Tortona (; pms, Torton-a , ; lat, Dhertona) is a ''comune'' of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines. History ...

near

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The railway will form part of the Rhine–Alpine corridor within the

project. Construction work started during 2013. At that time the railway was expected to be completed by 2025. The line will be long, of which being

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

s. In addition to the line itself, a further of branches connecting the railway to various existing lines are also planned. The estimated cost for construction of the railway is €6.2 billion.

Background

During the 1990s, the development of a modern high speed railway line between

and

became viewed as an increasingly important pending development for Italy's transport infrastructure. Once completed, it will speed the movement of traffic between the

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

n coast and Italy's major industrial regions of

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, forming a triangle between the cities of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, and

. Further afield, the railway shall be an element of the wider

(TEN-T) of high speed railways that will speedily transfer both passengers and freight throughout the European continent, thus boosting international trade between Italy and the rest of Europe by providing a direct route between the ports of Genoa and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

via the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

. The railway will operate at a maximum speed of 250 kmh and has been projected to reduce journey times between Genoa and Milan from 1 hour and 39 minutes today to only 50 minutes. It is believed that a greater proportion of freight from central Europe could be directed to Genoa instead of ports on the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

as well, resulting in a decrease in shipping times to Asia of five days. Extensive civil engineering works are involved in the railway's construction: 37 km of its 53 km length is underground. Several major tunnels are to be built, such as the Colombo, San Tomaso, and Polcevera tunnels, which were at one stage scheduled to be built at a cost of €120m over the course of 30 months. The Italian railway infrastructure company

Rete Ferroviaria Italiana Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) is the Italian railway infrastructure manager, subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), a state-owned holding company. RFI is the owner of Italy's railway network, it provides signalling, maintenance and other ser ...

(RFI) functions as the project's client, while the state-owned engineering firm

Italferr Italferr is a consulting and project company belonging to FS (Ferrovie dello Stato), the Italian railway state company. Italferr, the Italian State Railways Group engineering firm, operates on the Italian and international markets in the field o ...

provides supervision. As a result of a competitive tendering process the COCIV consortium was appointed as the railway's general

contractor A contractor is a person or company that performs work on a contract basis. The term may refer to: Business roles * Defense contractor, arms industry which provides weapons or military goods to a government * General contractor, an individual o ...

. It comprises the civil engineering companies Salini-Impregilo (64%),

Condotte ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europ ...

(31%) and CIV (5%). During September 2003, the final design phase for the railway commenced.

Construction

Construction of the line commenced in April 2012. As part of preparatory work ahead of construction, roughly 30 km of roads were constructed or upgraded to accommodate heavy goods vehicles involved in the construction as well as to ease general traffic flows. The construction activity was divided into six separate lots, the first two of which were activated in advance of the remaining four lots. During July 2015, it was announced that the excavation of the Campasso Tunnel had been completed. This 600m-long tunnel was a key engineering element of Lot 1 and facilitates a connection between the new railway and the historic Succursale dei Giovi (Genoa-Milan-Turin route) line. The railway's tunnels are typically built as a pair of single-track tunnels adjoined by cross-connections. However, during mid 2018, construction of the Tortona–Genoa high-speed railway was suspended for two years, reportedly due to a contractual dispute. On 21 July 2020, tunneling work was resumed as a result of a new contract having been signed between

(RFI) and the COCIV consortium in regards to both design and construction activities for the railway. Around the same time, further contracts were also issued to the Cociv consortium to build several connections between the new high speed railway and existing lines at Voltri, Genoa Parco Campo, and Tortona. By July 2020, the Tortona–Genoa high-speed railway was reportedly 40 percent complete. During late September 2020, breakthroughs were achieved in both the Valico tunnel (Galleria di Valico) and the Serravalle tunnel (Galleria dei Serravalle); as a consequence, every work sites was directly connected to one another along a 17 km stretch. The 27 km long Valico tunnel was excavated using traditional techniques, while the vast majority of the 7 km Serravalle tunnel was driven via a

tunnel boring machine A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also known as a "mole", is a machine used to excavate tunnels with a circular cross section through a variety of soil and rock strata. They may also be used for microtunneling. They can be designed to bore throu ...

(TBM).

Webuild Webuild SpA (formerly Salini Impregilo SpA) () is an Italian industrial group specialised in the construction and civil engineering business headquartered in Milan. The company was formally founded in 2014 as the result of the merger by incorporat ...

hailed the twin breakthroughs as being the halfway point on all of the route's excavations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tortona-Genoa high-speed railway Railway lines in Liguria Railway lines in Piedmont 2023 in rail transport