Genova High Tech has commissioned the detailed design of the cable car that will connect the future Airport-Erzelli railway station to the science and technology park, and has set out the next step. “We will submit a public-private partnership proposal to the City of Genoa by the end of the year,” CEO Giovanni Maria Paviera told *Il Secolo XIX*, which reported the news on October 8. The route has already been presented to Mayor Silvia Salis and Deputy Mayor Alessandro Terrile.
In August, the study commissioned from engineer Pier Paolo Grassi, a specialist in cable transport systems, had reached an intermediate stage between a preliminary design and a feasibility study. With the contract for the detailed design now awarded, the project moves into a more advanced phase, allowing costs to be defined more precisely. The current estimate remains between €40 million and €50 million, although Paviera believes the final figure is more likely to be closer to €40 million.
The technical specifications of the system remain unchanged. The cable car will run along a single route, with no intermediate stops, completing the journey in 1 minute and 57 seconds. Its estimated capacity is around 4,000 passengers per hour in each direction. Once the necessary permits have been obtained, construction would take 12 to 14 months. On safety matters, the company has already opened discussions with ANSFISA, the Italian National Agency for Railway, Road and Highway Infrastructure Safety, which authorizes this type of system to enter service.
The main development concerns the financing model. The proposal will combine public and private funding, with the respective shares yet to be determined. In addition to GHT, other private partners may join the project. Contacts are already underway, but Paviera explained that their names will remain confidential until agreements have been finalized. If the City and private investors reach an agreement, the 2021 program agreement for the park will also likely need to be revised. That agreement assigned responsibility for public transport connections to Erzelli to the City, and any changes will have to preserve the balance between the obligations set out in the original arrangement.
The response from City Hall has been positive, although cautious. Deputy Mayor Terrile sees GHT’s work on a concrete project and its proposal for a public-private partnership as encouraging signs. However, the technical feasibility still needs to be assessed, and the amount of public funding required must be quantified. Terrile also linked improved accessibility to the ongoing construction of the new Polytechnic School and noted that the proposal represents a change of direction from previous funding requests exceeding €100 million submitted to the Ministry of Infrastructure.
Those requests are part of a long history. The cable car was the first solution approved to connect the railway station with the hill, back in 2013. In subsequent years, a monorail and a funicular railway were proposed, but neither project secured ministerial funding. In early 2026, Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Edoardo Rixi pointed towards a lighter, less expensive system, funded or co-funded by GHT. Since spring, the company has been working towards this solution, culminating in the current commission for the detailed design.
The future of the hill will once again take center stage on October 16 at 4:30 p.m. in the main lecture hall of the Albergo dei Poveri. The University of Genoa is dedicating a conference to the Erzelli campus entitled *Innovating to Shape the Future: Erzelli Tech Campus Between Research, Technology and Talent Development*. The event will also mark the handover between outgoing Rector Federico Delfino and incoming Rector Antonio Uccelli. Guests will include Deputy Minister Rixi, Liguria Region President Marco Bucci, and Mayor Silvia Salis.
Read also: From the Station to the Park in Two Minutes: The Cable Car Enters the Design Phase →
