A highly anticipated and important stop on the Palermo Passante railway line opens to the public. Our video on the Youtube channel “IN PROGRESS”
This is a very important work for the Palermo railway bypass, contracted in October 2021. The area served by the station is extremely important: its catchment area, in fact, is very large, falling in the center of a very densely populated residential area. In the area, in addition to the stadioabout 900 meters away, there are important offices and commercial areas. The regional ANAS headquarters is located right in front of the stop.
In our study on the railway bypass (which you can find about this article ) we have identified over 13,300 residents in the area of influence of the stop and the presence of the 7% of the attractive capacity of the entire route. This means that the stop, once in operation, will represent the destination of 7 travellers out of 100 on the trains.
The stop was only partially completed with the works assigned to SIS, General Contractor for the Palermo railway bypass, which began way back in 2008. After the termination of the contract with the Italian-Spanish company (2019) it was necessary to start a new contract, assigned to Europea 92 S.p.A. for the amount approximately 10.5 million euros.
RFI has planned the completion, on the odd side, of the accesses and technical rooms serving the two platforms. At this point, it must be said, the two gallerieseven (direction Palermo) and odd (direction Punta Raisi) they are staggered, both altimetrically (with the first one closer to the surface than the second one) which planimetrically (with the first further downstream than the second).
Some technical details
The new stop is completely undergroundequipped with two platforms and able to guarantee accessibility for people with disabilities and reduced mobility, thanks to paths for the blind, escalators and elevators.
The access situation is complex, especially on the odd side (direction Punta Raisi), having to allow access to a platform located about 22 meters from the surfacewhich is guaranteed by 3 flights of stairs, fixed and mobile, and a lift (see video).
In THIS VIDEO find the explanation of the details of the stop: we note the presence of the emergency accesses and the top of the ventilation shafts. Very complex systemswhich see the deepest platform served by three ventilation shafts which also serve to ventilate the odd tunnel which, from Viale Francia to Palermo Notarbartolo measures approximately 3.100 m.
The technical rooms also contain the smoke extraction systems which push the air contained in the galleries outside by means of powerful fans: they will be used in the event of a fire, to quickly free the galleries from any combustion fumes. There are two smoke extraction shafts: one with a square plan, on the Notarbartolo side, and one with a circular plan, on the Francia side. Each shaft receives air from both galleries, and conveys it outside through two large ventilators through a grid (see plan at even platform level). A third well with a circular plan, for “disconnecting” the fumes, on the France side, it supplies air to the two tunnels without the aid of fans, located in the small above-ground building that was built in the area between the stop and the overpass on Via Belgio.
Facing south, on the ring road side, we find the system of odd descentsthat is, the set of fixed and escalators, as well as a lift, which connect the platform to direction Punta Raisi with the outside. In proximity to it, the fire-fighting systems, with the water reserve and the nearby pumping station: they will have to supply the fire-fighting system in the tunnel for the time of one hour, considered by the regulations as the minimum to evacuate the passengers of a hypothetical train stuck in the depths.
These rooms are separated from the descents by a reinforced concrete partition currently being cast. The descents do not include a mezzanine, but three flights of fixed stairs and three of escalators, connected at two intermediate levels. Outside, access to the descents is ensured by a large covered area with metal canopiesin the style of those built in France and in a bit of all the stations of the railway pass.
The realization of our project proposal
Appropriate pedestrian routesequipped with tactile supports, will connect this area to via Monti Iblei, near the intersection with via Alcide De Gasperi, bypassing the roof structure of the even tunnel. A connection with via Pietro Nenni (the old ring road) is not foreseen, at least in this phase, which will however be guaranteed, in the future, by extension of via De Gasperi.
Among the pedestrian paths there is also this one proposed by “In Progress” with a specific variant project. The proposal, we recall, was approved by the City Council, which then imposed its implementation on RFI. A unique and rare case of intervention by a blog for the concrete improvement of a Public Work, which makes us proud of our work. The variant consists of a sidewalk that connects the stop with the side road of the Circonvallazione, making it accessible to a densely populated area.
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