A rare tunnelling method is being deployed to build a 650m section of the Casalnuovo Tunnel which lies within an aquifer, as part of the Naples-Bari high-speed rail project in Italy. Train travel between Naples and Bari in southern Italy currently follows an indirect route and takes more than four hours, meaning most people and freight movements take place via the road network.
The under-construction Naples-Bari high-speed rail line aims to generate a modal shift. With a direct connection and trains being able to run at a maximum speed of 250km/h, journey times will be slashed to a mere two hours, making rail a more attractive means of transport. The new line will also reduce travel times between the north and south of Italy – for example Rome-Bari link will take three hours instead of five – as well as from the south to northern destinations outside the country, as the new infrastructure will be integrated into the Scandinavian-Mediterranean Corridor of the Trans-European Transport Network.