First TBM delivered for excavating the Moncenisio Base Tunnel
Turin–Lyon high-speed rail line
On 11 March 2026, at the premises of the manufacturer Herrenknecht in Schwanau (Germany), the handover ceremony took place for the first of two Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs), for the construction of the Italian section of the Moncenisio Base Tunnel, a strategic infrastructure for the future Turin–Lyon high-speed line.
The event was attended by FS Engineering, the lead partner in the IS2P Consortium for Construction Supervision, with its partners ARX, Systra and Setec, responsible for the technical support and coordination of activities for one of Europe’s most significant infrastructure projects.
The giant tunnel boring machine, with a total length of approximately 234 metres (including the back-up section), a diameter of 10.16 metres and a weight of around 3,000 tonnes, is designed to operate in particularly complex geological conditions, with overburden of up to 2,000 metres. The TBM will be used to excavate approximately 10.5 kilometres of tunnel.
The machine was built for the UXT consortium, comprising Itinera (lead partner), Ghella and the French firm Spie Batignolles, to be used at the Chiomonte site in Val di Susa, to excavate the second access adit and, subsequently, the south tube of the base tunnel, which has already commenced on the French side, advancing under the mountain as far as Susa.
The TBM is a dual-mode machine, capable of operating in both open and closed configurations. The latter mode will be used, in particular, for the underpass beneath the Valle Cenischia floodplains and in sections where asbestos-containing minerals may be present, ensuring high standards of safety, control and operational reliability – key aspects of the supervision carried out by the FS Engineering Construction Supervision team.
The handover ceremony, symbolically marked by the rotation of the TBM head, was attended by Italian and French authorities, senior executives from TELT, partner companies of the UXT consortium, and representatives of the IS2P Construction Supervision Team, led by FS Engineering. Also present were Elena Chiorino, Vice-President of the Region of Piedmont, and Head of a Regional Government Department, and Pietro Falcone, the Italian Consul at Fribourg.
The Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, and the French Minister of Transport, Philippe Tabarot, addressed the event via video link.
Once fully operational, in the coming years, a total of seven TBMs will be working on the construction of the base tunnel, carrying out about 75% of the total tunnelling operations between Italy and France. The TBM will be temporarily stored at the manufacturer’s facility and transferred to the construction site next year, after completion of the preliminary tunnelling works.
The delivery of the first TBM marks a crucial milestone in the achievement of the Turin–Lyon rail project, in which FS Engineering confirms its leading role in the management and supervision of major infrastructure projects, providing advanced engineering expertise, innovative solutions and a sustainability-focused approach, at the service of a strategic infrastructure for the future of mobility in Europe.