Rail freight traffic along the Genoa-Milan axis in northern Italy will be disrupted between 1 June and 28 September 2025 due to the renovation of a bridge crossing the Po River. In total, during those four months, almost 600 freight trains will be redirected along three different routes.
More specifically, 242 weekly trains will run along the Voghera-Piacenza line, 255 on the Piacenza Milano and 83 on the Alessandria-Novara. The cost to replace the bridge in Bressana Bottarona revolves around 50 million euros and the line will be closed during the same months in 2026 as well. However, it is not clear whether the solution proposed for 2025 will also be implemented next year.
Preparing for the Terzo Valico
The line running through Pavia, which is the one affected by the works, will be fully closed between 21 July and 29 August, while only one track will be available between 1 June and 20 July and 30 August and 28 September. Other than replacing the bridge, Italy is also working on quadrupling the whole Milan Rogoredo-Pavia stretch.
All these initiatives are in view of the opening of the so-called Terzo Valico, a rail tunnel connecting Genoa and its port to the Rhine-Alpine axis. Once completed, the new infrastructure will link Genoa to Tortona through the longest railway tunnel in Europe at over 27 kilometres.
