Naples-Bari High-Speed Railway Line

The Naples-Bari High-Speed/High-Capacity rail line project involves upgrading and speeding up the Naples–Bari route. It will expand rail service throughout Southern Italy, thereby revitalising inland areas and expanding access to high-speed and high-capacity railway lines to various regions currently excluded from such service, benefiting over 5 million residents.

This strategic, modern, and highly sustainable transportation infrastructure for all Southern Italy will help reduce travel times and significantly increase the share of freight transported by rail. Once fully operational, the project will allow trains to travel at a maximum permitted speed of 250 km/h, significantly reducing travel times between Puglia, Campania, Lazio, and the rest of central and northern Italy, while also connecting the country from east to west. 

The infrastructure is an important part of the European Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) program for sustainable transport. It will also facilitate interconnection with the “Scandinavian–Mediterranean” Core Corridor, resulting in improved integration of the rail route with facilities dedicated to intermodal transport and logistics. It will therefore enhanced connectivity for freight and passenger traffic between Southern Italy and Northern Europe.

Overall, the Naples-Bari High-Speed/High-Capacity rail line is one of the largest infrastructure projects under construction in Italy, with a total route of 145 km, with 15 tunnels (including the Hirpinia Tunnel, which is approximately 27 kilometres long), 25 viaducts, and will serve 20 stations and stops: in particular, the new Hirpinia station will be built in Grottaminarda, connecting the cities of Avellino and Benevento, as well as numerous neighbouring municipalities, to the national high-speed rail network.

Naples-Bari HS/HC rail line: Webuild’s role

The Group is building a total of over 74 km of new railway, 6 tunnels with a combined length of over 50 kilometres, and 10 viaducts spanning approximately 6 kilometres. For tunnel excavation, Webuild is using 8 state-of-the-art TBMs (tunnel-boring machines).

Webuild’s work on the Naples–Bari line also includes building six new stations and stops: Acerra, Casalnuovo, Centro Commerciale, Hirpinia, Apice, and Orsara. The new Hirpinia station, to be built in Grottaminarda (AV), will play a central role. It is set to become a strategic hub for the provinces of Avellino and Benevento, connecting numerous towns, villages, and inland areas (which have been excluded from the high-speed rail network until now, and are of significant tourist value) to the high-speed rail network. The station will feature four tracks: two central and two side tracks, and a two-story passenger terminal. Two platforms, each measuring 400 metres, are also planned for passenger service, and will be equipped with covered shelters. The project is further complemented by a new dedicated access road network, consisting of 4 roundabouts, 8 roadways, 1 park-and-ride facility serving the station, and 1 bus terminal for rail-road intermodal transport.

To carry out the project, up to 3,000 jobs will be created across the four Webuild lots, while the supply chain has involved approximately 2,700 companies since works began.

The Webuild Group is working on four sections of the Naples–Bari high-speed/high-capacity railway:

The Naples-Cancello section opened in July 2026, marked a significant improvement in the efficiency standards of the entire railway. The project allowed extending the new tracks to serve the Naples-Afragola station, integrating the Naples-Bari section with the national high-speed rail system, ensuring both a direct connection between the two regional capitals and an initial reduction in travel times. It runs for 15.6 kilometres between Naples and Cancello. The project also includes the construction of the Acerra and Casalnuovo Stations and the urban station Centro Commerciale. 

The Apice-Hirpinia section will run for some 18.7 kilometres between the towns of Avellino and Benevento and includes the construction of a station at Hirpinia and a stop at Apice, three tunnels and four viaducts.
 

The Hirpinia-Orsara section envisages the construction of 28 kilometers of line, almost all of which (27 kilometres) built underground. A work of great excellence that will allow trains to reach 250 km/h.

The Orsara-Bovino section envisages the construction of 11.8 kilometres of line and will support trains travelling at speeds ranging between 200 and 250 kilometres per hour. The project will double the capacity of the existing single-rail train service along this section, passing for the most part through a tunnel of about 9.9 kilometres in length.

Naples-Bari HS/HC rail line: the benefits

Once construction is complete, the new HS/HC rail line will significantlyreduce travel times: Naples–Bari route will take 2 hours, compared to the current 4 hours, while the Rome–Bari route will take 3 hours: saving about two hours, and the journey from Lecce and Taranto to the capital will take 4 hours.

The construction of the Naples–Bari High-Speed/High-Capacity line is a crucial factor in the development of Southern Italy: it will facilitate connections between the two most important cities in the southern part of Italy’s mainland, while also promoting greater integration with major European networks. It will also stimulate further productive investment and significant growth in inbound tourism in the affected areas. 

The project is already serving as a development driver for the region and for creating new jobs. The new Naples – Bari high-speed/high-capacity railway has a direct impact generating approximately 53,000 full-time jobs. 

The Naples–Bari high-speed/high-capacity railway will also bring significant benefits in terms of environmental sustainability: with an estimated reduction in average annual emissions of approximately 141,000 metric tons of CO₂: the equivalent to the emissions of 638,000 trucks traveling the Naples–Bari route.

Naples-Bari HS/HC rail line: innovation

The Naples-Bari high-speed/high-capacity railway project features elements of considerable complexity and engineering innovation, as it is being built in a context that is particularly challenging from an environmental, geotechnical, and geomorphological perspective. 

The Hirpinia Tunnel, located on the Hirpinia-Orsara Lot, represents one of the most complex underground structures on the entire Naples-Bari high-speed and high-capacity rail line: not only due to its size and the technologies employed, but also because of the delicate Apennine geomorphological context it crosses. At 27 kilometres long, it is set to compete with the Valico Tunnel (currently under construction between Genoa and Tortona) for the title of Italy’s longest railway tunnel, becoming a project of paramount importance in Italy’s infrastructural landscape.

Another element of innovation and complexity was the Casalnuovo Tunnel on the Naples-Cancello section: 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 context of tunnel construction involving interaction with the aquifer. This innovative method involved using compressed air to keep groundwater out of the work areas, carrying out excavation and lining operations under dry conditions, also offering environmental benefits.