A work that has been awaited for 20 years is finally unlocking. And although another 8 will have to pass for its completion, the publication of the announcement on the Official Journal of the European Union it can be considered a success compared to the almost 160 years in which everything has remained unchanged. The work in question is the doubling of the tracks on the Adriatic railway line between Molise and Puglia. A stretch of 24.9 kilometers between Termoli and Ripalta, the second functional lot of the Termoli-Lesina line, whose completion is scheduled for 2028, at a speed of just over 3 kilometers of tracks per year.
The inauguration of Vittorio Emanuele II
The railway line in question is certainly the best preserved infrastructure of the Kingdom of Italy. Of the Kingdom of Italy, because it was inaugurated on November 8, 1863, when two trains with King Vittorio Emanuele II and his guests on board left the Turin station in the direction of Foggia; better preserved, because it has remained substantially unchanged since then. Yet, it is a long-standing bottleneck (the only single-track stretch of the entire Adriatic ridge) and even financed since 2001. In vain, at least until 2021. In the last twenty years there have been countless obstacles, all of an environmental nature. To overcome which both the times and the costs of the infrastructure have increased. In short, if for the reconstruction of bridges we speak of the Genoa model, on the railways the one not to be taken for example the Termoli model.
The three options
Among the three solutions studied over the many years of discussions – upgrading alongside the existing line, as occurs in every part of the world (where possible); alongside the section of the A14 motorway; crossing the Biferno valley – the third option is chosen, driven by environmentalists who immediately sustained the greater environmental impact of the other two and despite longer times and higher costs. And despite – as anyone who has traveled the Adriatic railway line at least once – from Rimini to Brindisi the train often passes close to the sea, even near the renowned resorts of the Romagna and Abruzzo Riviera. In short, in Pesaro s but in Campomarino Lido no. And so, to meet the demands of the environmentalists, the project was blocked several times.
Excessive noise
The other obstacle that RFI had to overcome was that of excessive noise. A little more than a year ago, in October 2020, the report of the Via-Vas subcommittee of the Ministry of the Environment highlighted the inappropriateness of solving the problem exclusively through the barrier system, unanimously considered inadequate. It is appropriate that RFI put in place further innovative solution options. In practice, the new route was too noisy, designed with criteria clearly outdated about 20 years after the first funding.
Rising costs
By dint of reviewing the project, times and costs have increased. As per the tender for the design and construction of the doubling of the Termoli-Ripalta section, the tender value of 438 million euros. But the total investment for this section of approximately 600 million (594, to be precise, considering not only the supply materials but also the expropriations along the chosen elongated route which, on the contrary, would not have been necessary with the doubling of the track alongside thesince the necessary space would have been only 5 meters and already available to the FS group). About 170 million more, from the initially planned 430 million to just under 600, for having opted for the mainly variant route, with the disposal of the existing railway line. For 25 kilometers of track, the 170 million difference means almost 7 million more for each kilometer.
The lengthening of times
As for the times – as stated in a note from RFI – the doubling of the tracks (which according to forecasts will save about 40 minutes of travel between Bologna and Bari and about 60 minutes to Lecce), will be completed in 2028. Three years after the first lot, from Ripalta to Lesina (approximately 7 kilometers), awarded in March 2021 for an amount of approximately 59 million euros and a total investment of 106 million, for which completion of the executive planning activities by the contractor with expected completion of works in 2025. For three years, therefore – from 2025 to 2028 – only the Molise section will remain on a single track: it will probably be able to celebrate the 165th anniversary of the inauguration still unchanged since the times of the Kingdom of Italy.