The Port of Livorno, less than 200 kilometres south of the Port of Genoa, has experienced a sharp rise in trains handled throughout the first semester of the year. The port is also ready to start works to improve its rail links to the Amerigo Vespucci Interport and other rail lines in Tuscany to better its connections with Northern Europe.

Rail freight traffic to, from, and through the Port of Livorno has experienced a significant increase in the first semester of the year compared to the same period in 2021. When it comes to rail freight handled by the port terminal, 1,368 trains and 21,975 wagons were handled, signaling increases of respectively 56,2 per cent and 39,3 per cent. In the comprensorio, the area surrounding the port, 1,682 trains were handled, an increase of 48,3 per cent, with 26,340 wagons, a rise of 31,4 per cent.

All kinds of goods are moved through the Port of Livorno, including cars, frozen goods, fruit, and industrial equipment. The port is also home to the biggest artificial cave for gas storage in Italy. The cave is the second biggest in Europe, behind the one in Lavéra, near Marseille. Here, ships coming from North Africa can unload their products and store them safely.

Rail projects for the Port of Livorno

The Port of Livorno will soon be connected to the Amerigo Vespucci Interport by patching up the section after laying a 1,580-meter-long single track. A 360-meter-long viaduct will guarantee safe passage above the Genoa-Rome main line. This project will cost around 27 million euros, 20 of which are financed by the Tuscany Region.

The Interport plays a key role for the Port of Livorno in that it offers an inland connection for intermodal transportation. The strategic position of the Interport allows for faster connections to the regional and national networks, and consequently to Europe.

More investments for rail connections to the Port of Livorno have been announced by the Region at the beginning of August for a total of 488 million euros, 338 of which have already been financed. The projects include a link between the port and the Collesalvetti-Vada line and the profiling of over 40 kilometres of tunnel lines between Prato and Bologna. The line is part of the Pisa-Vada section which was closed in 1992 and reopened in 2004 specifically to boost intermodal freight transport. Finally, one of the projects is the construction of the Pisa bypass, which will allow for the transit of high-velocity freight trains.

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