All containers from Catania to Augusta

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On the one hand the infrastructural strengthening with the construction of a railway line, on the other the commercial one with the localization of new logistics operators. The port of Augusta is at the center of the strategy of the port system authority of eastern Sicily Francesco Di Sarcina who in recent days presented the technical and economic feasibility project of the railway connection with the port of Syracuse. A project worth around 110 million, raised largely thanks to Pnrr resources, and which is in the approval phase. «This – explained Di Sarcina – is an important stage in the path that sees Augusta projected into the future, above all as a transit hub for containers in Sicily». Thanks to subsequent funds, the completion of the works will also begin with a railway link, approximately 250 meters long, which will go down from the pick-up and delivery line made in the first phase, to the port docks, so as to load the trains directly on the dock. «A fundamental need, not foreseen in the original project, designed to satisfy the railway advantage which consists in speeding up loading and unloading times – continues Di Sarcina – in this sense I express my heartfelt thanks to RFI and to commissioner Filippo Palazzo». In parallel, the Syracuse port is destined to be increasingly the Sicilian reference point for containers: by March all containers from the port of Catania will be transferred to that of Augusta where a new terminal will be built which foresees traffic of 50 thousand Teus in 2024 and more than double in the following years. General cargo and project cargo traffic and significant personnel growth will also be implemented. The concession will last 25 years and was entrusted, after completion of the legal procedures, to Est Srl (Europea Servizi Terminalistici), a company that has a series of investments in the pipeline, some already defined, others in the planning phase: almost 24 million between civil works, purchase of equipment, transport, extraordinary maintenance on an area of ​​approximately 86 thousand square metres. News also from a technological and employment point of view: «We will give a strong push to the automation and digitalisation of processes – highlights Antonio Pandolfo, CEO of Est Srl – with a notable redevelopment of the equipment. Resources will also be intensified with 38 personnel units by 2028, of which 20 units transferred from the port of Catania and 18 additional units”.