There are 1,300 construction sites active every day on the railway network, including major works, ordinary and extraordinary maintenance interventions and technological upgrades, for a total of 11.6 billion euros of investments in 2025.
These are among the main numbers illustrated today by the CEO and general manager of the Italian Railway Network, Aldo Isi, during the press conference at the FS Group headquarters in Rome dedicated to the progress of the railway construction sites and the upcoming activations on the national network.
For the Italian Railway Network (FS Group) this is the highest level ever recorded, a result obtained thanks to the operation of the PNRR and the acceleration given to the network strengthening and maintenance programmes.
This investment plan has had significant repercussions on the national economy and employment levels. The interventions carried out in 2025 generated an impact of 20.5 billion euros on the value of production and 8.6 billion euros on the GDP, with 112 thousand employed in the supply chains involved.
The 25 billion euros of PNRR funds assigned to the FS Group also fit into this scenario, of which 18 have already been invested until February 2026. Through the main operating companies, the Group has achieved all the intermediate targets set out in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.
The construction activity, together with the routine interventions carried out every night to guarantee the continuity of the service, represents the largest railway transformation in recent decades.
Works in progress
By 2027, new railway infrastructures will progressively come into operation and important technological enhancement interventions distributed along the entire national network will be completed.
During the first half of 2027, however, the activation of the Brescia-Verona line is expected, on the HS/HC Milan-Venice corridor. Furthermore, the first four conventional lines equipped with the ERTMS system will enter into operation: Terni-Sulmona, Lamezia Terme-Catanzaro Lido, Siracusa-Canicattì and Roccasecca-Avezzano. Finally, in Sardinia, Lot 2 of the Decimomannu–Villamassargia doubling will be activated.
In Northern Italy, activities connected to the Brenner corridor continue, with the activation of the first phase planned on the Fortezza-Ponte Gardena section, the first priority lot of the southern access line to the Brenner Base Tunnel, intended to increase the capacity and performance of freight and passenger traffic along the Munich-Verona axis.
Construction sites scheduled for 2026
Today, 1,300 maintenance and investment construction sites are active on the network every day, with approximately 272 thousand scheduled interruptions per year necessary to allow the work to progress. RFI’s investment volume grew by 49% compared to 2023, confirming the FS Group as the country’s main infrastructure investor.
Of the total investments, 37% is intended for maintenance and improving the resilience of the infrastructure, while 63% is aimed at large strategic works. At the same time, the number of interruptions managed by RFI has also increased, growing by approximately 115% from 2023, largely to support the progress of the interventions financed by the PNRR.
To cope with the evolution of construction site activities, we have moved to a model of longer interruptions, concentrated in periods of lower traffic, which allows more activities to be carried out simultaneously, optimizing the use of technical and economic resources and reducing the overall impact on railway circulation in the medium-long term. The new approach also allows interventions to be concentrated in well-defined time windows, maximizing the effectiveness of the work and rationalizing the inconvenience for travellers.
As regards the national railway network, some scheduled interruptions are expected in the coming months which will still guarantee adequate levels of mobility and railway offer, also through alternative itineraries and remodulations of the service.
The point on jobs in Sicily
In Sicily, for example, important infrastructure upgrading and extraordinary maintenance interventions are planned on some routes of the Palermo-Agrigento and Palermo-Catania routes from 15 May to 30 September
However, major construction sites continue for the modernization and infrastructural and technological enhancement of the island’s railway lines such as the new Palermo-Catania-Messina route, the restoration and electrification of the Palermo-Trapani line via Milo and the new Trapani-Birgi stop, the doubling of the Fiumetorto-Castelbuono section on the Messina-Palermo route, the Augusta bypass, the Ragusa Metrorailway, the closure of the Palermo railway ring, the burial of the tracks in Catania Fontanarossa and the installation of ERTMS technology on some lines on the island. The framework of interventions in Sicily also includes important investments for the redevelopment of various railway stations, including Milazzo (intervention already completed), Siracusa, Marsala, Messina and Acireale, financed under the PNRR, as well as new constructions such as the San Michele and Fontanelle stops (Agrigento) and Carini Ri.MED (Palermo).
The situation in Calabria
The complex program of technological upgrade and infrastructural improvement interventions continues in Calabria. In particular, along the approximately 170 km of the Ionian railway line between Sibari and Catanzaro Lido, work is underway for the adaptation of the works of art, the electrification and the technological upgrade with the ERTMS (European Rail Transport Management System) to improve the reliability of the infrastructure in terms of regularity of circulation and quality of service. The suspension of traffic between Sibari and Crotone continues until June 30, where consolidation, maintenance and infrastructural strengthening interventions are planned for various bridges, underpasses and metal girders, preparatory to the future speeding up of the line.