Palermo-Catania Railway Line. Bicocca-Catenanuova Section

Transfers in less than two hours and a new station on the Palermo-Catania line

The project concerns the Palermo-Catania railway line. In particular, it doubles one of its sections, which is 38 kilometers in length, on the Bicocca-Catenanuova railway section.

Trains running on this stretch today cannot exceed speeds of 90 km/h (55 mph) and are obliged to stop to let others pass because of the single track. Doubling the tracks will enable the trains to reach speeds of 200 km/h (124 mph).

Like other ongoing sustainable mobility projects, the work is part of the broader European corridors TEN-T (Transport European Network) project. The plan aims at improving rail transport competitiveness, also by increasing rail freight transport. It also wishes to connect the South-Eastern railway network to high speed and high capacity railway lines.

Works concern the new railway site, the reinforcement, the signaling and telecommunication systems and the electrical substations for powering the trains. The Bicocca station will be upgraded. A new one will be built in Motta Sant’Anastasia.

Already at the end of 2020, route travel times will be shorter than current ones, as the first track will be speed-enhanced: Trains will reach a maximum speed of 200km/h.  Once works are completed, travelling from Catania to Palermo will take less than two hours.