Italy opens first section of the Naples–Bari high-speed railway

On 1 July 2026, Italian infrastructure manager RFI put into operation the first completed section of the new Naples–Bari high-speed/high-capacity railway: the 15.6 km Naples–Cancello stretch in Campania, including the new Acerra station and a connection to the Afragola hub station. This cuts Naples–Bari journey time to about 3.5 hours (a new direct Naples–Lecce service takes roughly 5 hours); the full 145 km line (15 tunnels, 25 viaducts, 20 stations, 32 municipalities) is meant to eventually bring Naples–Bari down to 2 hours and, per Wikipedia, is projected for completion in 2027. Update (23 Sep 2026): The new Casalnuovo station, built entirely in a tunnel, has been open to passengers since 15 September 2026 (client RFI, built by the Nacav consortium led by Webuild); it replaces the former stop and is, after Afragola and Acerra, the third station on the Cancello bypass, with 63 Trenitalia regional trains stopping there on weekdays. The Naples–Cancello section is worth EUR 1.1 billion in total; 55 km of new high-speed/high-capacity line on the Naples–Bari route are now in operation, the historic Naples–Cancello line is being decommissioned and 12 level crossings disappear. (LOK Report, 23 Sep 2026)