Ogliastrillo-Castelbuono rail section: work has started again with the TBM ‘Margherita’ reaching the 1000 m mark

Track-doubling on the Ogliastrillo-Castelbuono section of the Palermo-Messina line has resumed at full speed.

In the last few days, the 1,000 m of excavation of the Cefalù Binario Dispari tunnel, excavated using the ‘Margherita’ TBM, consisting of two single-track tubes - for a total length of about 13.5 km - have been reached, which will be lined with more than 43,000 ashlars upon completion of the structure inside which the future underground Cefalù stop will be housed.

Work is also continuing on other fronts at the site, such as the completion of the final lining of the S. Ambrogio and Finestra S. Ambrogio tunnels, the construction of the entrance bulkhead on the Messina side of the Malpertugio Tunnel, the excavation of the Malpertugio tunnel from the entrance on the Palermo side, as well as structural, geotechnical and hydraulic works in the area of the new Castelbuono Station, the latter characterised both by the interference between different infrastructure elements (existing trackbed, new trackbed, existing road network to be diverted), and by the orography of the area characterised by unstable steep slopes close to the structures.

Thanks to the contribution of the entire Works Supervision team and the Italferr Project Team, today the site is fully operational on all fronts, with the average daily employment of more than 200 technicians and workers.