TRIESTE – The port of Trieste is accelerating on its two main infrastructure projects: the Servola railway station and the expansion of Pier VIII, with updates on authorisation procedures, timelines and financial coverage.
For Servola, the Eastern Adriatic Sea Port System Authority expects to reopen the tender by the end of May, subject to the definition of a solution on the timetable. The project, financed with 180 million euros under the National Complementary Plan to the NRRP, had seen the procedure revoked in April 2025 due to the impossibility of meeting the 2026 deadline required by the funds.
«The project is financed with 180 million euros from the NCP, which we have available, but with the constraint of completing the work by 2026», Port Authority president Marco Consalvo clarified, pointing out that revoking the tender had been necessary to avoid the risk of losing the resources. «If we find a solution to postpone this date, we will be able to reopen the tender within a month, by the end of May».
The option currently under examination concerns postponing the completion date and consequently remodulating the financial coverage over subsequent years, in compliance with European rules. Discussions are under way on this point with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport and with the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
The president of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, Massimiliano Fedriga, confirmed the institutional commitment on the dossier: «The Transport Minister is fully aware of the importance of this initiative and we are working with the MEF to find a solution». The issue, he added, is «to shift the project funding to subsequent years», an operation that requires new coverage, since «European rules do not allow unspent resources to be automatically used in the following year».
In parallel, the process for Pier VIII is continuing. The expansion project is currently undergoing Environmental Impact Assessment at the Ministry of the Environment, as part of the conference of services launched in April. The aim indicated by the Port System Authority is to award the tender by the end of the year, «perhaps a few months earlier», as Consalvo stated.
«This is an intervention included among the main national strategic projects, already within NRRP and NCP programming», the Authority president added, underlining ongoing discussions with the MIT and Minister Matteo Salvini, as well as with the president of the Region, Massimiliano Fedriga, to define the overall timeframe.
Consalvo also reiterated the functional connection between the two projects: «Without Servola, Pier VIII would lose an essential component of its functionality» and described the pier expansion as a «fundamental strategic development project», specifying that, without the railway node, it would amount to «a crippled infrastructure».
