The Webuild Group, as a member of a consortium, secured the €1.6 billion (US$1.8 billion) contract, with a 60% share of the project for the new high-speed/high-capacity Salerno-Reggio Calabria railway line. 

The contract covers the Paola–Cosenza doubling section, spanning roughly 22.2 km across Calabria, almost entirely underground. The centerpiece of the project, commissioned by RFI (FS Italiane Group), is the new Santomarco Tunnel, which extends over 15 km and is regarded as a strategic element of the railway line. The project will significantly improve the capacity and efficiency of the railway connection between the Tyrrhenian coast and inland areas of Calabria, ensuring better accessibility to Cosenza and strengthening the Bari-Taranto-Gioia Tauro freight route. The new Santomarco Tunnel will be separated by about 100 metres from the existing single-track tunnel, which will be decommissioned once the work is complete. Four tunnel boring machines (TBMs) will be used to excavate the double-tube, single-track tunnel.

Works will be built by Webuild, leading the consortium with Ghella, Pizzarotti, and SELI, the Group's subsidiary specializing in tunnelling. The route will cross the Province of Cosenza, passing through the municipalities of Paola, San Lucido, Rende, Montalto Uffugo, San Vincenzo la Costa, and San Fili. A total of nine railway bridges and two viaducts are planned. One viaduct, 350 metres long, will cross the A2 motorway; a second, 205 metres long, will cross the Settimo stream. A new station will also be built in Montalto Uffugo to serve the territory and the university campus in Rende. 

This project represents a crucial milestone in completing the new high-speed, high-capacity Salerno–Reggio Calabria railway line. It is expected to boost the economic and social development of Southern Italy as part of the Scandinavian–Mediterranean corridor within the TEN-T Network, a strategic route linking southern Italy with the north and the rest of Europe. The full line will provide fast, high-capacity rail connections to previously underserved areas, including Cilento, Vallo di Diano, the Ionian coast, Cosenza, and the Reggino region, supporting economic growth and tourism. Upon completion, the line will shorten travel times between Rome and Reggio Calabria. 

On the same Salerno–Reggio Calabria line, Webuild is already executing Lot 1A Battipaglia–Romagnano, the initial segment of the overall infrastructure, covering 35 km of new track and connecting with the Potenza–Metaponto section. For this stretch, Webuild recently commissioned Europe’s largest tunnel boring machine (TBM) to excavate the Saginara Tunnel. Currently, the Webuild Group is constructing roughly 60 km of the high-speed railway between Salerno and Reggio Calabria. With the award for the Paola–Cosenza doubling works, Webuild now has 19 active projects across southern Italy, including the islands, which collectively involve building over 320 km of high-speed, high-capacity railway lines.