Naples-Bari HS Railway Line, Naples-Cancello Section

The Naples-Cancello railway section concerns the first part of the Naples-Bari line. It is strategic for the realignment of the overall metropolitan, regional and long-distance connections. 

The Naples-Cancello section allows the line's railway tracks to be used by the new Naples Afragola station, which will allow passengers to change from Regional to the High Speed services (and vice versa), therefore increasing overall accessibility to the railway transport of the Naples area.

The project includes the new Acerra station and two new stops for the metropolitan services of Casalnuovo and the Shopping Mall.

The line is 15.5 km long, and passes through the Casoria, Casalnuovo, Afragola, Caivano and Acerra territories. Of these, 3.7 km pass along viaducts (made with various types of decks), 3.3 km within an artificial tunnel and the remaining distance is above-ground and in trenches. 

Hyperbaric excavation: innovation and sustainability 

To excavate the Casalnuovo artificial tunnel, which extends for 3.3 km through the municipalities of Casoria, Casalnuovo and Afragola, an innovative and cutting-edge solution involving excavation in a hyperbaric atmosphere was used.

For approximately 650 m, the tunnel runs partially below the water table. A detail that, without countermeasures, would have led to the work area being flooded by groundwater. To avoid this scenario, in the most efficient and sustainable way, the Webuild Group adopted the hyperbaric atmosphere excavation technique: I.e. an innovative system that uses pressurized air to create a working area whose atmosphere is able to counterbalance the thrust of the groundwater, ensuring a dry excavation bottom during works.

The personnel involved in the excavation, received prior specific training. And all activities were carried out in accordance with specific technical and health procedures and protocols designed to ensure the safety and health of workers during all work phases. 

Completed in July 2025, the excavation of the Casalnuovo tunnel was the first example of using this technique in Italy and one of the few applications in Europe to build tunnels that interact with the aquifer.