Florence Rail Junction, the Castello Overpass has been inaugurated
On December 1st the high speed (HS) Florence Junction overpass was inaugurated. The ceremony was attended by Mauro Moretti, the Chairman of the Ferrovie dello Stato (National Railroad Company) and Enrico Rossi, President of the Region of Tuscany. The railway line, which has been active since October 30, has two objectives:
• to allow for proper traffic routing for the new Bologna-Florence HS line, thus eliminating any interference with traffic on pre-existing lines through multilevel routing
• to overcome traffic congestion in the direction of the Santa Maria Novella railway station.
With a total length of 900 metres, the overpass represents an intersection for three railway lines elevated at different levels for the three through train lines:
• the upper level is destined for high-speed trains in transit between Florence Santa Maria Novella and Bologna
• the intermediate level is reserved for long-distance passenger and goods trains passing through the Florence junction that transit along the Prato-Florence - Campo di Marte line without entering Santa Maria Novella railway station
• the underground level, currently being build, will connect the HS line from Bologna to both the Florence Belfiore station and the Florence-Rome through train, passing through the Florence junction completely underground.
