Salini Impregilo has won a €530-million contract to build a 153-kilometre section of a new “Orient Express” high-speed railway in Turkey between Istanbul and the border with Bulgaria.
The contract is the latest acknowledgement of the Group’s global leadership in the construction of major high-speed railways that contribute to the sustainable development of urban and extra-urban mobility.
Set to last four years, it is receiving financing in euros from the European Union via the European Investment Bank, guaranteeing a reduction in the risk profile while setting the entire production chain at the highest contractual standards and guarantees requested by international organizations.
The line will belong to the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) that connects member countries of the European Union. It will be a part of the Orient/East-Med Corridor, which connects Central Europe with ports of the North, Baltic, Black and Mediterranean seas.
The project, overseen by the Directorate General of Turkish State Railways, will reduce travel times, increase safety and contribute to the development of the region. After working a year on the project, Salini Impregilo will lead with a 50.01% stake in a joint-venture with Kolin İnşaat Turizm Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş., a leading Turkish builder with which the Group completed the reconstruction of the Köseköy-Gebze section of a high-speed railway in 2011 for the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications. Salini Impregilo is working with it on other large infrastructure projects in the Gulf.
The latest contract will link the Halkali station to that of Kapikule with a double track that will supplant the existing single track. It will be for trains that can travel at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour. The contract includes electrification, signalling and other auxiliary civil works related to that section of the line. The choice of the best technological solution among 10 alternative projects was made based on a cost-benefit index. The contract also guarantees the immediate availability of machines to move 80 million cubic metres of earth.
Salini Impregilo is present in Turkey since 1966, having built iconic works such as the KEBAN Hydroelectric Project on the Euphrates River worth about €200 million. Between 1985 and 2000, Salini Impregilo developed large highway projects worth a combined €2.5 billion, including the Kinali-Sakarya highway and the second bridge over the Bosphorus River.
Salini Impregilo is a major builder of railways worldwide, and it is involved in a number of projects in Italy for the TEN-T, such as the Terzo Valico dei Giovi, a high-speed/high-capacity 53-kilometre line that will connect the port of Genoa on the Mediterranean coast with that of Rotterdam on the North Sea coast in what is called the Rhine-Alpine Corridor. It recently won a €608.1-million contract to build a section of a high-capacity rail line between Naples and Bari that will be also be part of the TEN-T.
About Salini Impregilo
Salini Impregilo is an industrial Group specializing in the construction of major, complex infrastructure projects throughout the world. Inspired by the principles of sustainable development, the Group uses technological and organisational innovation combined with its extraordinary human and professional resources, to develop construction solutions capable of enhancing the resources of communities and contributing to the economic and social improvement of nations.
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