the journey will last 2 hours – Corriere.it
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From Palermo and Catania and back in 2 hours by train compared to the current 3. Steps forward for the completion of the fast railway line between the two cities with the FS Group which, through its company Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, ensured new resources for 3.4 billion euros. A financial availability that adds to the billion and 400 million coming from the Pnrr and which will allow to speed up the times of the project.
Resources
The maxi intervention – says FS – was approved by the European Investment Bank and divided into a direct loan to the Mef of 800 million and an innovative counter-guarantee instrument, designed together with Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, from 1.3 billion in favor of financial intermediaries, of which 500 million for the pioneering operation with Intesa Sanpaolo, 300 million for the one with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and a further 500 still to be allocated. Thanks to the InvestEU programme, the commitment of one billion three hundred million guaranteed by the EIB can be doubled to 2.6 billion, bringing the resources activated, with the 800 million to the MEF, to 3.4 billion in favor of the rail link between Palermo and Catania . We welcome with great satisfaction the EIB’s commitment to financially support the projects to modernize and upgrade our railway infrastructure, and the particular attention it has paid to the south and Sicily, underlined Luigi Ferraris, CEO of the FS Group.
Jobs
The allocated resources will be destined in particular to the interventions to upgrade the Palermo-Catania connection, 226 km long, in the Fiumetorto-Bicocca section where they will lead to doubling the current single track and increasing the speed limit up to 200 km/h. Completion of the works will make it possible to reduce current travel times by a third. In fact, both freight and passenger trains will travel on the upgraded network at speeds of up to 200 km/h, travel times between Palermo and Catania will be reduced by about 60 minutes, the two metropolitan cities will be connected with direct trains 2 hours compared to the current 3 hours.
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