Turin–Lyon: the first TBM for the Italian side delivered in Germany

12 March 2026

On 11 March 2026, the first of the two tunnel boring machines (TBMs) destined for the Italian side of the Mont Cenis Base Tunnel, the core of the new Turin–Lyon railway line, was officially delivered at the Herrenknecht plant in Germany.

The delivery ceremony took place with the traditional rotation of the machine’s cutterhead, in the presence of the top management of TELT, the public bi-national promoter of the Turin–Lyon project, representatives of the contracting companies and Italian and French authorities, including the Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini and the French Minister of Transport Philippe Tabarot.

The TBM was built for the UXT consortium, responsible for a strategic portion of the works on the Italian side of the cross-border section. The consortium is led by Itinera as the lead contractor, together with partners Ghella and Spie Batignolles.

The machine features extraordinary dimensions: 235 metres in total length and a cutterhead with a diameter of 10.16 metres. It is equipped with 13 motors generating a total power of 4,550 kW and will be able to advance at an average rate of around 10 metres per day.

Designed to operate at depths of up to 2,000 metres beneath the mountain, the TBM is a dual-mode machine capable of working both in open mode, for hard rock excavation, and in closed mode, allowing it to cross water-bearing loose ground using a closed-circuit slurry system.
These features enable the machine to cope with the complex geological conditions expected along the tunnel alignment.

The delivery of the first TBM destined for the Italian side marks a key milestone for the progress of the works and for the construction of one of Europe’s most important railway infrastructures.

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