Italferr’s integrated approach to Sustainability
The benefits of green working in infrastructural projects
Constructing sustainable railway infrastructures calls for the adoption of an integrated, responsible engineering approach, with design centring on protection of biodiversity and ecosystems. In Italferr, the awareness of the value of the territories guides each phase of the design and construction process, promoting the development of infrastructures that blend in with the countryside, able to preserve the natural capital and generate benefits for the environment and communities. At Italferr, this tangible commitment is seen as an essential contribution to attaining national and international goals when it comes to sustainable development and safeguarding the environment.
Careful inclusion of green works in infrastructural projects provides a strategic opportunity to valorise the territory and promote an approach that aims at environmental sustainability. The integration of natural solutions, which means working on vegetation in projects, makes it possible to create green spaces with multiple functions. These not only facilitate harmonisation of the works with the natural countryside, but also provide an effective tool for mitigating the environmental footprint associated with constructing and operating infrastructures. In fact, the capacity of green works to offer real benefits in terms of air quality and capturing and holding greenhouse gases, is well known.
Green works therefore provide a strategic lever for planning sustainable infrastructures, and contribute to promoting a virtuous engineering model, that takes into account decarbonisation goals.
Lot 1A Battipaglia – Romagnano of the new Salerno-Reggio Calabria HS Line
One of Italferr’s projects in progress, as part of the PNRR goals for “Infrastructures for Sustainable Mobility”, is lot 1A Battipaglia – Romagnano on the new High Speed Salerno – Reggio Calabria Line. This infrastructure is new in the territory and one of its distinctive elements is the green works. Lot 1A calls for the construction of a 35 km long section of dual track railway line, designed to allow a travelling speed of up to 300 km/h. This work is part of a strategic infrastructural development context, aimed at correcting long.standing shortcomings in the South and at completing construction of the Scandinavian / Mediterranean corridor, which is an integral part of the TEN-T trans-European Core Network. In fact, the High Speed Salerno – Reggio Calabria line is an essential segment of this important corridor.
The lot lies within a particularly complex, diverse territorial and environmental context, in which landscape integration and safeguarding natural components play a central role. In fact, this project is a real example of the integrated design approach adopted by Italferr, aimed at inserting the infrastructure into the territory, in order to preserve its ecological and landscape value.
The method used to design the green works and the results in terms of greenhouse gases for lot 1A of the New Salerno - Reggio Calabria HS Line
Each area has its unique ecological value that is defined by its environmental, floral, faunal, and ecological characteristics. In designing infrastructures Italferr uses an integrated methodological approach, which begins with identifying the ecological and environmental sensitivity of the areas affected by the works, in order to safeguard and protect them. The first step in designing Lot 1A was characterised by identifying the areas of great ecological value within the corridor being studied, in order to avoid crossing through these areas, thereby ensuring conservation of the local biodiversity.
In subsequent phases the focus switched to areas of lesser environmental value - often farming or inhabited - which are inevitably affected by the presence of the infrastructure. In order to make up for use of the ground and reach a positive environmental balance, the design provides for instituting specific measures for inserting into the environment, including a specifically designed green works system. These works are designed to play multiple roles: reinstating spaces taken from the natural ground, improving how the infrastructure is integrated with the landscape, and actively contributing to ecological protection of the area. The design for the green works calls for using vegetation modules based on type, structured according to the local environmental characteristics and made up of indigenous tree and shrub species selected according to their adaptability, speed of establishment, and capacity for ecological regeneration.
The approach Italferr took in choosing and positioning these vegetation modules along the railway route did not stop at environmental insertion, but extended the analysis to evaluating numerous environmental benefits generated by the greening works, especially in relation to mitigating climate changes. In fact, the project’s climatic imprint was assessed, also taking into account the removal of CO₂ achieved by the new planted areas. For Lot 1A the estimated benefit is about 660 tonnes of equivalent CO₂ per year (estimate done for a time scale for the presence of the green works of 100 years).
This value is calculated by assessing the green (agricultural and bush) and grey (built-up and cemented) areas affected by use of the ground, and then integrating the gains derived from the reforestation envisaged, in order to arrive at an estimate of the ground’s losses or gains. This means that the green works’ contribution is added to the other environmental advantages related to the rail transport system, such as great energy efficiency and the use of materials with a high content of recycled components. This combination of factors contributes towards further enhancing the infrastructure’s overall sustainability profile.
Contribution to the SDGs and European biodiversity goals
By adopting a proactive approach along with safeguarding biodiversity in its sustainability methods and policies, Italferr is committed to guaranteeing that its infrastructural projects are not only functional and economically sustainable, but that they also respect the environment fully.
This approach makes it possible to stay in line with important worldwide commitments and goals, such as the Biological Diversity Convention, the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In particular, the goal is to promote SDG 9 in real terms, opting for the development of resilient infrastructures, while safeguarding the integrity of natural ecosystems and preventing negative impacts on climate change and biodiversity, as called for by SDG 13 and 15.
Involvement in international research projects and technical boards
Italferr’s commitment to safeguarding biodiversity takes concrete form in other arenas as well, such as active involvement in European technical boards and research projects. In fact, Italferr is a partner and active member of the European ERJU SYMBIOSIS (SYstemic Mobilisation for Joint Biodiversity and Infrastructure) Project, in which it contributes to developing advanced tools for assessing and valorising biodiversity in infrastructural design processes, by taking part in numerous boards that deal with methodologies.
Italferr’s involvement in improving and sharing the various methods has led to acknowledgement and valorisation of its practices, by means of scientific publications presented at the R&D Management 2025 Conference - Innovation and Biodiversity, held in July 2025 at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa. On this occasion the article entitled “Methodologies for Railway Infrastructure Design: a Proactive Approach to Biodiversity Protection” was presented. It illustrates the design assessments and actions used by Italferr when it comes to safeguarding biodiversity, focussing especially on the inclusion of green works in the infrastructural design.
These milestones bear witness to Italferr’s determination to promote sustainable engineering solutions, aimed at facilitating harmonious coexistence of infrastructures and natural systems.
Content prepared with collaboration between Environment and Energy Saving SO and Sustainability SO