Alessandria–Novara–Arona railway
Overview
Statusin use
OwnerRFI
LocaleLombardy and Piedmont, Italy
Termini
Service
TypeHeavy rail
Operator(s)Trenitalia, Trenord
History
Opened1854 (1854)
Technical
Line length67 km (42 mi)
Number of tracks2
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification3 kV DC
Operating speed135 km/h (84 mph)
Route map
from Genoa and Piacenza
from Ovada
from Savona and
Cavallermaggiore
90.075
 Alessandria
96 m a.s.l.
89.420
Tanaro river
88.522
0.000
to Turin
A21 - E70
6.572
 Valmadonna
117 m a.s.l.
7.377
 Valenza tunnel
(2330 m)
9.707
12.392
Valenza
(Valenza Tramway)
112 m a.s.l.
to Vercelli
 Bozzole-Monte
(closed)
98 m a.s.l.
Po river (
Piedmont
Lombardy
)
18.618
 Torreberetti
94 m a.s.l.
to Pavia
24.449
 Sartirana
99 m a.s.l.
28.940
 Valle Lomellina
100 m a.s.l.
Agogna torrent
36.074
 Olevano
104 m a.s.l.
from Pavia / from Asti
40.793
 Mortara
108 m a.s.l.
to Milan / to Vercelli
46.138
 Albonese
116 m a.s.l.
(
Lombardy
Piedmont
)
48.616
 Borgo Lavezzaro
118 m a.s.l.
52.996
 Vespolate
124 m a.s.l.
56.810
 Garbagna
131 m a.s.l.
from Milan
65.028
Left arrowNovara
Left arrowLeft arrowNovara Boschetto
151 m a.s.l.
 Novara Nord
 Novara FNM (old)
65.368
to Turin and Biella
from Saronno
Turin–Milan (HS)
A4 – E64
Cavour Canal
68.303
Vignale
end of double track
160 m a.s.l.
to Varallo and Domodossola
Terdoppio torrent
76.871
 Cameri
crossing loop
78.121
 Bellinzago
216 m a.s.l.
81.616
 Oleggio
235 m a.s.l.
to Pino
85.151
 Marano Ticino
258 m a.s.l.
89.687
 Varallo Pombia
292 m a.s.l.
92.540
 Borgo Ticino
270 m a.s.l.
A8/A26 – E62
from Santhià
97.515
Dormelletto Paese
opened in 1935
227 m a.s.l.
deviation opened in 1905
from Milan
100.769
Arona
(opened in 1905
205 m a.s.l.
 Arona
(old)
to Domodossola

The Alessandria–Novara–Arona railway is a railway line in Italy that connects Alessandria to Arona on Lake Maggiore, passing through Novara.

The management of the infrastructure is the responsibility of RFI SpA, a subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato, which classifies the line as complementary.[1]

History

Section Opening[2]
Alessandria-Mortara 5 June 1854
Mortara-Novara 3 July 1854
Novara-Arona 14 June 1855

A project involving the building of a railway between Alessandria, Novara and Lake Maggiore was conceived in the period of maximum enthusiasm for construction by the Kingdom of Sardinia which under the Cavour Government had quickly built the Turin–Genoa and Turin–Cuneo railways. The line itself was conceived as a long branch of the Turin–Genoa line in order to improve the connections between Genoa and Switzerland in competition with river traffic on the Ticino.[3]

The Royal Licenses of 1845, which laid the foundations for the construction of the railways of the Sardinian States, authorised the construction of a line that branched off from Alessandria station to reach the shore of Lake Maggiore. Work began under the jurisdiction of the state company in the late 1840s and proceeded slowly, as Piedmont waited a long time for a response from the Swiss cantons in regard to the construction of a tunnel under the Lukmanier Pass. Future decisions on the establishment of the railway to the port of Arona or on an alternative link to Locarno depended on it. In 1853, in the absence of certainty about the development of the Swiss network, it was decided to end the line at Arona and to organise ferries to Locarno.[4]

Railway bridge over the Po near Valenza

The first section opened between Alessandria railway station and Mortara on 5 June 1854. Novara was reached the following month (3 July), while the rest of the line to the old station on the lake at Arona was opened on 14 June 1855.[2]

The Alessandria–Arona section was inaugurated on the following Sunday, 17 June, in the presence of Cavour, Rattazzi, Durando and Paleocapa. Vittorio Emanuele II, who was mourning the death of his youngest son, was represented by the Prince of Carignano. On that day, the waters of the full lake lapped the railway.[5]

In 1859, for the first time in history, a railway was used for military operations: the Alessandria–Novara line was used for the speedy transport of Piedmontese troops between Casale and Novara, surprising the Austrian troops at the Battle of Magenta.[6]

Under the law of 14 May 1865, no. 2279, the ownership of the lines of the Ferrovie dello Stato Piemontese (Piedmontese State Railways), including the Arona–Alessandria railway was sold to the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (SFAI) of the Südbahn (Southern Railway) group.[7] Ten years later, with the redemption of the SFAI property under the Basel Agreement, the infrastructure returned to the Italian state, while its operation was temporarily assigned to the private railway company.[8] The Conventions of 1885 resolved the provisional situation by incorporating the state lines west of Milan in the Rete Mediterranea, under a sixty-year concession to the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo.[9]

Following the nationalisation of the railways in 1905, the line was then operated by Ferrovie dello Stato. The doubling of the track between Mortara and Novara was completed on 2 April 1909.[10]

Electrification at 3 kV AC was activated on 2 May 1960.[11] The electrification of the line, part of the route from Switzerland to the Port of Genoa, was carried out under an Italo-Swiss convention for improving international lines agreed in 1955.[12]

Features

The line is single track on the section between Arona and Vignale and double track between the latter and Alessandria. The line is 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge.

The line is electrified at 3,000 volts DC.

Operations

From the point of view of the passenger service, the line is separated into two sections, both of which are operated by regional services: Arona–Novara and Novara–Alessandria.

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Rete in esercizio" (PDF) (in Italian). RFI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 Sviluppo delle ferrovie italiane dal 1839 al 31 dicembre 1926 (in Italian). Roma: Ufficio Centrale di Statistica delle Ferrovie dello Stato. 1927., see Tuzza, Alessandro (1997–2007). "Trenidicarta.it" (in Italian). Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  3. ↑ Maggi 2007, pp. 33–34.
  4. ↑ Zaninelli 1995, pp. 6-7 and 29.
  5. ↑ Comandini, Alfredo (1907–1918). L'italia nei cento anni del secolo XIX (in Italian). Vol. III: 1850-1860. Milan: Antonio Vallardi.
  6. ↑ Montanelli, Indro; Cervi, Mario (1981). Due secoli di guerre (in Italian). Vol. 3. Milan: Editoriale Nuova. p. 149.
  7. ↑ Maggi 2007, p. 119.
  8. ↑ Maggi 2007, pp. 122–123.
  9. ↑ Maggi 2007, pp. 124–125.
  10. ↑ Ferrovie dello Stato, Service order no. 87 of 1909
  11. ↑ Dard, Michele (July–August 1960). "Potenziate le linee al confine elvetico". Voci della Rotaia (in Italian). III (7–8): 4.
  12. ↑ Marello, Renzo (July–August 1960). "T.E. dalla Svizzera al mare". Voci della Rotaia (in Italian). III (7–8): 3.

Sources

  • Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. Fascicolo linea 13
  • Maggi, Stefano (2007). Le ferrovie (in Italian) (2 ed.). Bologna: Il Mulino. ISBN 978-88-15-12391-6.
  • Zaninelli, Sergio (1995). Le ferrovie in Lombardia tra Ottocento e Novecento (in Italian). Milano: Edizioni Il Polifilo. ISBN 88-7050-195-7.
  • Fascicolo Linea 13 (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. pp. 43–56 and 101–114.
  • Ballatore, Luigi (1996). Storia delle ferrovie in Piemonte. Dalle origini alla vigilia della seconda guerra mondiale (in Italian). Torino: Il punto. ISBN 88-86425-26-0.

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