A strategic institutional and operational meeting was held at the D’Abruzzo freight village in Manoppello, bringing together Paolo Piacenza, President of the Southern Tyrrhenian and Ionian Sea Port Authority, port technicians, Mosè Renzi, CEO of Abruzzo infrastructure, and a group of logistics and intermodality experts.
The meeting focused on establishing a direct rail link between Abruzzo and Calabria, designed to connect Abruzzo’s manufacturing sector to the Port of Gioia Tauro for both outbound production and inbound supplies of raw materials and semi-finished products.
The initiative builds on an institutional visit to Gioia Tauro by Abruzzo freight village leadership in April 2026 and forms part of a broader strategy to develop the Calabrian port as a fully integrated intermodal logistics platform for Central and Southern Italy.
The planned Abruzzo connection would complement existing daily rail services already operating between Gioia Tauro and the Nola Interporto and Bologna Interporto, launched in 2025, as well as a recently inaugurated rail link between Bari and Gioia Tauro.
The new rail corridor would integrate the Central Adriatic hinterland network with major international maritime flows through Gioia Tauro, providing businesses across Central and Southern Italy with direct access to transatlantic and East-West trade routes while reducing transit times and improving the competitiveness of Italian exports.
President Piacenza described the meeting as a fundamental step for the national logistics system, characterising Gioia Tauro’s evolution from a maritime transhipment point into a true integrated logistics platform and Italy’s principal gateway to global markets.
He emphasised the port’s ability to offer businesses in Central and Southern Italy rapid, efficient and sustainable connectivity with major ocean routes, reinforcing Southern Italy’s centrality in the Mediterranean economy.
