The Mediterranean Rail Freight Corridor (Med RFC) as a Successful Network-Based Megaproject

Megaprojects are often associated with poor delivery performance and poor benefit realization (Flyvbjerg, Skamris Holm, Buhl, 2002; Locatelli, Invernizzi, Brookes, 2017 b). Co-financed by the European Union and mainly regulated by Regulation (EU) 913/2010 with the aim to create a competitive rail network com- posed of international freight corridors with a high level of performance, the Medi- terranean Rail Freight Corridor (Med-RFC) goes against the trend (Zhang, Lu, Fu, Shu-bin Li, 2018). Together with other 10 Rail Freight Corridors, the Mediterranean RFC connects East to West all the European Union (from Spain, to Hungary through France, Italy, Slovenia and Croatia) and has the goal to make international rail freight transport more competitive and attractive. Aim of the paper is twofold: to analyse the case identifying the elements that make it different from other megaprojects highlighting the characteristic features that guarantee its proper function- ing and competitiveness and to bring out some distinctive traits that can be taken as an example for the development of other projects with similar scope (Lethinen, Peltokorpi, Artto, 2019).