TBM excavation of the Sciglio Tunnel on the Taormina-Giampilieri line launched today

Sicily a centre for innovation with automated factories producing segments for the tunnels

7,000 jobs planned in Sicily, of which 1,700 already active today on projects underway with RFI and ANAS

Training and employment activities at ‘Cantiere Lavoro Italia’ boosted to support the projects 

18,000 hours of training and project work in Sicily’s technical institutes

Milan, 8 April 2024 – Webuild Group operations in Sicily are moving ahead at full speed, on 7 railway projects for a 200 km network, with 175 km of tunnels and 19 planned TBM excavations at the Region's construction sites for an investment of more than 400 million euro. The last TBM went into operation today, at the Sciglio construction site on the Taormina-Giampilieri line. This is in addition to the Ragusa-Catania motorway project.

An estimated 7,000 jobs will need to be created to complete the 8 projects in Sicily, where 1,700 direct and subcontractor workers are already occupied at the sites. The Group’s objective for the projects assigned by RFI and ANAS, FS Group, is to contribute to the transformation of sustainable mobility in the island in the next few years, notably on the Palermo-Catania-Messina route, and in parallel to create growth and skilled jobs. 

“The Region of Sicily’s relationship with the Webuild Group was consolidated a few months ago by a memorandum of understanding guaranteeing mutual collaboration on training young people for entry on to the jobs market,” said the Chair of the Sicilian Regional Authority, Renato Schifani, during a press office on the progress of the projects in the Region, together with the Chair of RFI, Dario Lo Bosco, Webuild CEO Pietro Salini and the Chair of the Eurolink Consortium, Gianni De Gennaro. “Webuild is carrying out operations of great significance, involving investments for around 12 billion euro. We are convinced that all the projects, which are linked with an expenditure schedule under the national recovery and resilience plan, will be completed on time. This is part of an unprecedented strategic program set up by the national government and the regional government. This season will enable us to move into a summer with improved transport services. We are working to integrate a number of infrastructures into the Fsc program agreement, to complete our region's road network, with priority given to turning several provincial roads that have been neglected since the abolition of the Provinces into links serving the main infrastructure arteries.” 

“Rete Ferroviaria Italiana is stepping up the pace in optimising the railway system in Sicily,” explained Lo Bosco, “with funding already provided for 17.6 billion euro of investments. Together with Mr Schifani, and in agreement with Minister Salvini, we are monitoring project progress at the construction sites, where work is proceeding on schedule. This is a revolution for mobility in Sicily, which will make it possible to reorganise rail freight and provide greater intermodality along the entire Palermo-Catania-Messina route. At last we shall see major freight traffic here, in a new approach to transport as we prepare for the strategic link that will be provided by the bridge over the Strait of Messina connecting Sicily with the key transnational corridors. With the CEO of the Group, Mr Ferraris, and the CEO of RFI, Mr Strisciuglio, we are planning to provide a talking digital site at the train station in Palermo to provide people with the latest information.”

“The investment plan being rolled out in Sicily today is enormous and no other region is working on a program of this importance,” said Salini. “The Group is at work on most of the current projects, from the lots on the high-capacity Palermo-Catania-Messina route to the Ragusa-Catania motorway, and we have set up training programs to hire the technical skills we need in the region, for example to operate the TBMs that excavate the tunnels, thanks to simulators developed specifically for our training centre in Belpasso, near Catania. In addition to training, we are introducing innovation into the region with the automated factory in Belpasso to construct the segments for the Sicilian tunnels, and a second factory in Enna due to open soon. We want Sicily to provide not only jobs but jobs involving quality and innovation so that the region's talents remain here,” Salini added.

Excavation work with the Igea TBM began today at the Sciglio construction site on the Taormina-Giampilieri stretch of the Messina-Catania high-capacity railway line. With a cutterhead measuring 9.16 metres in diameter, the boring machine has come to Italy to excavate the future Sciglio Tunnel. 

In parallel, work is proceeding at full speed on the Bicocca-Catenanuova stretch, which is now 75% complete. Final completion of the track is scheduled for September 2024. The first complete stretch, with approximately 12 km of track from Catenanuova to Sferro, will be handed over in May; 9 overhead railway crossings have already been finished and static testing is underway on the 17 line viaducts. The work taking place at the construction sites requires specialised skills which Webuild is developing through the ‘Cantiere Lavoro Italia’ training and employment program launched in November, starting from Southern Italy. In just 4 months since the launch, in collaboration with the Region of Sicily, the Group has already involved 500 people on the island, 40% of the total in Italy. 

The hub of the Webuild training activities in Sicily is the advanced theoretical and practical training centre set up by the Group in Belpasso, Catania, where Webuild expert tutors and the use of machines and simulators help students develop the necessary skills to operate at high standards of quality and safety. Between April and December 2024 alone, the centre will run 16 courses. 

In addition to training at the Belpasso centre, Webuild has set up a training course in the Group's professional schools and the Build Up orientation program for technical institutes, thanks to which 450 students have received almost 18,000 hours of training and project work, for an average of 40 hours per student. Sicily is one of the first regions where this type of activity has been organised. Webuild has also established constructive relations with Sicily's universities, organising Recruitment Days in Messina and Catania.