Messina Bridge: Deal with EU to co-fund rail links

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 21 - The Messina Bridge company has reached an agreement with the European Union to co-finance the rail links for the proposed structure linking Sicily and mainland Italy, the company said Monday.
    The Società Stretto di Messina and CINEA, the Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency of the European Commission signed a Grant Agreement for the EU to cover 50% of the executive design costs of the rail infrastructure of what would be the world's longest suspension bridge, to the tune of some 25 million euros.
    "The signing of the Grant Agreement," commented the CEO of the Strait of Messina Company, Pietro Ciucci, "together with the recent inclusion of the Bridge in the 'Scandinavian-Mediterranean' corridor, by the European Council, confirms the strategic role of the project for Europe and lays the foundations for being able to find additional resources to cover the costs of construction of the work, with a concrete prospect of reducing the burden on the State budget".
    The bridge is currently costed at 4.6 billion euro and is scheduled to come into use in the early 2030s.
    The project, which was first championed by late three-time ex-premier and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi, has been delayed due to its high cost, environmental concerns, and fears of mafia infiltration on both sides of the Strait, by 'Ndrangheta in Calabria and Cosa Nostra in Sicily.
    The project's current champion, Deputy Premier and Transport Minister Matteo Salvini, has said construction sites will open by the end of the year and it will take seven years to complete the bridge.
    It will span over two miles, or 3.2 km, and become by far the world's longest suspension bridge.
    Currently, the 1915 Çanakkale Bridge in Turkey holds the record since opening to traffic in March 2022, with a span of 2,023 metres (6,637 ft).
    Since 1998, the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge in Japan had previously held the record with a span of 1,991 metres (6,532 ft). (ANSA).