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Fs: 3,4 billion for the Palermo-Catania railway, green light from the EIB

Go-ahead for funding for the Palermo-Catania railway line which will reduce travel times between the two cities by a third.

Fs: 3,4 billion for the Palermo-Catania railway, green light from the EIB

They arrive 3,4 billion euros for the completion of the fast railway line between Palermo and Catania, led by FS group with his company Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. The figure adds to the billion and 400 million coming from the Pnrr "and consolidates the path of modernization of the Sicilian railway network in which the Group led by Luigi Ferraris is investing around 21 billion until 2030", says Fse in a note. 

Ok from the EIB: the details of the maxi intervention

The maxi intervention received the green light from the European Investment Bank and is divided into direct financing to mef of 800 million and an innovative counter-guarantee instrument, designed together with Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, of 1,3 billion in favor of financial intermediaries, of which 500 million for the trailblazing operation with Intesa Sanpaolo, 300 million for the one with Deposit and Loans Fund and another 500 still to be allocated.

“Thanks to the InvestEU programme, the commitment of one billion three hundred million guaranteed by the EIB can be doubled to 2,6 billion, bringing the resources activated, with the 800 million to the MEF, to 3,4 billion in favor of the rail link between Palermo and Catania”, reports the group led by Ferraris.

Journey times reduced by 60 minutes

The allocated resources will be destined to the upgrading interventions of the Palermo-Catania link, 226 km long, of the Fiumetorto-Bicocca section where they will lead to doubling the current single track and to increase its speed limit fup to 200 km/h. Completion of the works will make it possible to reduce current travel times by a third. THE travel times between Palermo and Catania they will shorten by about 60 minutes and the two metropolitan cities will be connected with direct trains in 2 hours compared to the current 3 hours. 

"We welcome with great satisfaction the EIB's commitment to financially support the projects to modernize and upgrade our railway infrastructure, and the particular attention it has paid to the south and Sicily", he underlined Luigi Ferraris, CEO of the FS Group. "The commitment of all the signatories of this agreement strengthens that of the companies of the FS Group, such as Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, which are working to carry out the works of the PNRR, those envisaged by the Planning Agreement with the State and by our Business Plan which, in this sector, it is worth over 110 billion”. 

Always Ferraris recalled that "The Palermo - Catania, together with the Catania-Messina and the bridge over the Strait, will be an essential segment of a wider European project, that of the transport corridor that unites northern and southern Europe, the so-called Scandinavia-Mediterranean Corridor, an integral part of European TEN-T network (Trans-European Network Transport). And for Sicily – continued Ferraris – it will represent a driving force economic and tourist development, a modern infrastructure, respectful of the environment, capable of developing mobility services that meet the needs of the community, of the productive sectors and of the territories crossed, further encouraging the already enormous potential of the island".

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