Webuild celebrates milestone on Naples–Bari HS/HC Rail Line: Naples–Cancello Section becomes operational, direct connections between Campania and Puglia established

Naples–Cancello section a strategic segment connecting Naples–Bari line to Afragola Station, with 15.6 km of new tracks, 4 viaducts, and Casalnuovo Tunnel, first in Italy to be excavated in a hyperbaric environment

As of today, travel between Bari and Naples reduced to 3.5 hours, while Naples and Lecce connected in 5 hours

Naples–Bari high-speed/high-capacity rail line a key project for Southern Italy: Webuild working on 4 sections, part of 21 projects Group carrying out in region, employing 10,200 people

MILAN, July 1st, 2026  – Mobility in Southern Italy is today taking a step forward: the Naples–Cancello section – the first segment of the Naples–Bari high-speed/high-capacity rail line built by Webuild for RFI (FS Italiane Group), has officially come into service. This milestone marks a significant improvement in the efficiency of the entire rail corridor as it connects the regular Naples–Bari rail service to the national high-speed network via the Afragola station. More than five million people in the region stand to benefit from the reduction in travel times that will result from this connection.

As a result of the Naples–Cancello segment becoming operational, Trenitalia is introducing a new direct Naples–Lecce service from today, connecting the two cities in about 5 hours without any transfers. Meantime, the travel time between Naples and Bari is reduced to about three and a half hours. This marks a first significant step forward in establishing more efficient connections along the Adriatic–Tyrrhenian corridor. Once completed, it will reduce the travel time between Naples and Bari to just two hours and strengthen the South’s role in European transport corridors.

 The 15.6-kilometre Naples–Cancello section runs through a densely populated urban area in the Naples metropolitan region, serving as a hub for metropolitan, regional, and long-distance rail connections. In fact, this section provides direct access for the Naples–Bari line to the Naples–Afragola station, which is set to become the new “Gateway to the South” toward the Turin–Milan–Rome–Salerno corridor. This role as an intermodal hub will be further enhanced by the future Line 10 of the Naples Metro, whose construction has been entrusted to a consortium led by Webuild, thereby completing the integration between the regional network and the national high-speed rail system. 

With the opening of this section, the new Acerra station also begins operations, improving access to the national high-speed network. Road infrastructure has also been enhanced, with the construction of 12 road connections and the elimination of level crossings along the historic line. The Naples–Cancello project, from a technical standpoint, required, among other things, the laying of over 60 km of rails, 182,000 tons of crushed stone, and approximately 65,000 railroad ties, as well as the construction of four viaducts with a total length of about 4 kilometres, which allowed the line to cross over major local thoroughfares and minimize the impact on a densely populated area. The main engineering challenge of the project was the Casalnuovo Tunnel: approximately 650 metres were constructed by Webuild using the hyperbaric excavation technique, the first instance of its use in Italy and one of the few applications in Europe in the field of tunnel construction in the presence of an aquifer. 

The Naples–Bari high-speed/high-capacity rail line, part of the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor of the TEN-T network, is one of the major infrastructure projects underway in Italy. It represents a key component in improving sustainable mobility in Southern Italy. In total, the future line will consist of 145 kilometres of new track, with 15 tunnels and 25 viaducts. It will serve 32 municipalities with 20 stations and stops along the route. 

The Webuild Group, as part of this strategic plan, is working on four lots of the Naples–Bari high-speed/high-capacity rail line: Naples–Cancello, Apice–Hirpinia, Hirpinia–Orsara, and Orsara–Bovino. They are part of the 21 projects that the Group is carrying out in Southern Italy with a total awarded value of over €16 billion. This industrial commitment translates into significant employment, with 10,200 people directly and indirectly employed, with a supply chain comprising 7,500 companies since the works began.