The European Bank for Investment (EIB) has approved an investment of €3.4 billion for the modernisation of the 178 km Palermo – Catania railway line. €800 million will be provided in direct financing from the EIB to the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). It also includes a €1.3 billion counter guarantee, also provided by the EIB and developed in conjunction with Italian state railway FSI, in favour of financial intermediaries. The 50% counter guarantee will generate guarantees from financial institutions amounting to twice the EIB commitment, resulting in a total of €2.6 billion in guarantees available to implement construction contracts and subsequently start work. The infrastructure is part of the Scandinavia-Mediterranean Corridor of the TEN-T (Trans European Network Transport) network. Freight and passenger trains will travel at a maximum speed of 200 km/h, helping to reduce the travel times on this corridor by approximately 60 minutes.
