Webuild has begun excavating the Melito Tunnel on the Naples–Bari railway line, marking the start of underground works on one of the remaining sections of the upgraded corridor between Campania and Puglia in southern Italy.

The contractor confirmed that tunnel boring and excavation activity is now under way at Melito, where the alignment passes through the inland Apulian terrain between the Campania border and the Bari metropolitan area. Webuild is delivering the work as part of Italy's programme to modernise the Naples–Bari axis, a route Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) and the Italian government have prioritised to shift freight and passengers off road and onto rail between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts.

The Naples–Bari line upgrade is one of the most significant rail infrastructure projects under construction in southern Italy. Once complete, the corridor will cut journey times between the two cities and add capacity for freight traffic moving between the port of Naples, the industrial areas of Puglia and the Adriatic corridors that connect onward to northern Italy and cross-border destinations.

Excavation of the Melito Tunnel represents the transition from preparatory and civil-enablement works to full underground construction on this section. Tunnelling through the karst and clay geology typical of the Murge plateau demands continuous ground monitoring and staged support installation, and the pace of advance will determine the overall completion date for the section.

Webuild, Italy's largest construction group, has assembled a substantial order book in railway infrastructure, and the Naples–Bari programme ranks among its flagship domestic contracts. The company's progress on tunnels such as Melito provides a measurable indicator of programme momentum, since underground works typically govern the critical path on Italian high-capacity rail projects where surface works can proceed in parallel.

The client for the overall programme is RFI, which is funding the Naples–Bari upgrade through a mix of national resources and EU support under Italy's broader rail investment framework. The project forms part of the Scandinavian–Mediterranean core network corridor, the trans-European transport route that links northern Europe with the Mediterranean ports of southern Italy.

For operators, each completed tunnel section brings the corridor closer to the design specifications that underpin the business case: higher speeds, shorter paths and greater timetable resilience between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic networks. Trenitalia and freight operators stand to gain paths that compete with road haulage on the Naples–Bari axis, one of the busiest inter-regional corridors in the Mezzogiorno.

The excavation start at Melito follows earlier contract awards and enabling works on the line. Further milestones — breakthrough of the tunnel, tracklaying and systems installation — will determine when the section can enter test running ahead of commercial service.

Webuild says the tunnelling works will proceed according to the contract schedule, and the company's site teams are mobilised for continuous excavation. Progress at Melito will be watched closely as a bellwether for the delivery tempo of the wider Naples–Bari programme.