Milan–Venice railway

Milan-Venice railway
Overview
Status Operational
Locale Italy
Termini Milan
Venice
Operation
Opened 1842
Operator(s) RFI
Technical
Track length 267 km (166 mi)
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in)
Electrification Electrified at 3000 V DC
Legend
0.000 Milano Centrale
(From the left: "Genoa" and "Bologna" lines)
To Turin and Chiasso)
Belt line(from Milano Certosa and Greco Pirelli)
3.798 Milano Lambrate
(To Genoa and Bologna)
Belt line(to Milano San Cristoforo)
(From the left: "Venice DD", "Venice LL", "Goods" lines)
Milano Lambrate Scalo goods yard
(Passante linefrom Milano Certosa and Milano Bovisa)
6.240 Lambro junction(staggered junction)
Belt line(from Milano Rogoredo)
Milan ring road east
0.000 Milano Smistamento marshalling yard
9.907 Segrate(since 2003)
12.407 Pioltello-Limito
16.200 Vignate
18.750 Melzo goods yard
19.600 Melzo
(From the left: "Venice DD", "Venice LL" lines)
22.610 Pozzuolo Martesana(since 2009)
24.585 Trecella
27.152 Cassano d'Adda
Adda River
(Milan–Verona high-speed line, under construction)
29.200 Adda Junction P.M.[1]
30.020
31.680 Bergamo junction† 21-06-09
32.932 Treviglio Ovest(To Bergamo)
(Left: disused line connecting Cremona with Treviglio Ovest)
(33.063) 33.143 Treviglio
(To Cremona)
37.146 Vidalengo
42.117 Morengo–Bariano
Serio River
46.052 Romano
53.018 Calcio
Oglio River
59.778 Chiari
(From Lecco)
65.827 Rovato (RFI) / Rovato Borgo (FN)
(From Iseo)
(To Cremona, disused)
65.827 Ospitaletto-Travagliato
Autostrada A4
Mella River
79.797 Mella junction(From the left: "Goods", "Passenger" lines)
80.471 Brescia goods yard
(From Edolo)
82.842 Brescia
to Cremona and to Parma
84.000 (Boundary of Milan and Verona provinces)
91.416 Rezzato (RFI) / Rezzato FRV
(To Vobarno, disused)
99.950 Ponte San Marco-Calcinato
106.388 Lonato
110.738 Desenzano del Garda-Sirmione
Desenzano Porto(Lake Garda)
(To Desenzano Porto, disused)
San Martino della Battaglia(disused)
Mincio River
(From Mantua)
Peschiera Darsena(Lake Garda)
124.940 Peschiera FMP / Peschiera del Garda (RFI)
129.663 Castelnuovo del Garda
136.583 Sommacampagna–Sona
Lugagnano(disused)
Autostrada A22
Quadrante Europa
144.236 Fenilone junction(from Quadrante Europa)
144.236 Fenilone junction(to St Lucia and St Massimo junctions)
(Brenner railway)
(From the left: connections, overpass, San Massimo junction/P.C.[2])
Santa Lucia Junction/P.C. (To Mantua and Modena)
(To Rovigo and Bologna)
(From Santa Lucia and San Massimo junctions)
147.480 Verona Porta Nuova
Adige River
150.857 Verona Porta Vescovo
156.864 San Martino Buon Albergo
Autostrada A4
163.225 Caldiero
171.571 San Bonifacio
(From Lonigo Città, disused)
177.305 Lonigo
182.952 Montebello
Autostrada A4
191.471 Altavilla-Tavernelle
(FTV tramway to Montecchio and le Valli, disused)
199.138 Vicenza (RFI) / Vicenza FTV
(FTV tramway to Noventa and Montagnana, disused)
(To Schio and Treviso)
200.857 (Boundary of Verona and Venice provinces)
Autostrada A31
207.191 Lerino
(From Ostiglia, disused)
214.068 Grisignano di Zocco
(To Treviso, disused)
Autostrada A4
219.928 Mestrino
0.000/227.446 Montà points (former Montà junctions)(to Padova Campo Marte)
2.190 Padova Campo Marte
(From the left: from Bologna; from Bassano del Grappa and Calalzo)
229.408 Padua
(From the left: old line; high-speed line)
0.000/230.618 (to Padova Interporto goods railway)
3.794 Padova Interporto
Padova San Lazzaro(planned)
Autostrada A4
234.843 Ponte di Brenta(disused)
Brenta River
Busa di Vigonza(disused)
240.790 Vigonza–Pianiga
244.897 Dolo
248.726 Mira–Mirano
252.040 Mirano junction(Mestre rail bypass, disused)
Maerne overpass(from Trento)
254.389 Cabin B(from Adria)
256.490 Quadrivio Catene(old line to Trento)
256.500 Mestre Storica junctions
(To Udine and Trieste)
0+000/257.907 Venezia Mestre
2.232 Venezia Marghera goods yard
260.191 Venezia Porto Marghera
Venetian Lagoon
Venezia Marittima
266.341 Venezia Santa Lucia

The Milan–Venice railway line is one of the most important railway lines in Italy. It connects the major city of Milan, in Lombardy, with the Adriatic Sea at Venice, in Veneto. The line is state-owned and operated by the state rail infrastructure company, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana that classifies it as a trunk line.[3] The line is electrified at 3,000 volts DC.

History

The line was designed by the Austrian Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia to connect its two joint capitals and built by a company named the Imperiale Regia Privilege Strada ferrata Ferdinandea Lombardo-Veneta dell'Imperatore in honour of Ferdinand I of Austria. It was built in sections: the first section to be completed was between Padua and Marghera, opened on 13 December 1842, and was the third railway opened in Italy. On 13 January 1846 a 2 mi (3.2 km) long bridge over the Venetian Lagoon between Mestre and Venice was opened, with 222 arches supported on 80,000 larch piles.[4] It was followed by the opening of the Padua–Vicenza section on 11 January 1846 and the Milan–Treviglio section on 15 February 1846.[5]

The First Italian War of Independence slowed construction of other sections: the Vicenza–Verona Porta Vescovo stretch was inaugurated on 3 July 1849; it was extended across the Adige river to Verona Porta Nuova on 14 December 1852. An extension followed to Brescia and Bergamo via Coccaglio on 22 April 1854. The line was completed with the opening of the section between Bergamo to Treviglio on 12 October 1857, following the inauguration of the bridge over the Oglio at Palazzolo.[5] The original route via Treviglio, Bergamo and Brescia was 285 km long. The direct between Rovato and Treviglio, bypassing Bergamo was opened on 5 March 1878, and the line took its current form.[6]

In 1852 the original operating company was taken over by the state, but it was privatised in 1856, being sold to the Rothschild banking family of France for 156.25 million gold francs to form the Societé IR Privilégiée des Chemins de Fer Lombards-Vénitiens et de l'Italie Centrale, with a concession to complete the Milan–Venice line and to extend it to Trieste (the Venice–Trieste line) and to build branches to Lake Maggiore (the beginning of the Milan-Domodossola line), Como (the Milan–Chiasso line), Pavia (the beginning of the Milan–Genoa line), Piacenza (the beginning of the Milan–Bologna line) and to Mantua and Borgoforte (the beginning of the Verona–Mantua–Modena line). The Rothschild's rail interests were collectively referred to as the Südbahn.[7] With the transfer of Veneto to Italy as a result of the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866, the Milan–Venice railway became part of the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (Upper Italian Railways). In 1885 it became part of the Rete Adriatica (Adriatic Network) and in 1905 it was absorbed into Ferrovie dello Stato on its foundation.

Electrification at 3000 volts DC was completed in 1956.[8]

The current line

The railway is 267 kilometres (166 mi) long double track and fully electrified. The most important cities passed are Brescia, Verona, Vicenza, Padua and Mestre: these are also the key interchange points with other public transport services. The line has four tracks between Milan Lambrate and Treviglio and between Padua and Venezia Mestre, including high-speed lines on those sections. The high speed pair of lines is referred to as DD (derived from "direttissima"—literally most direct—an Italian word for high-speed railway) and the other pair is referred to as the Linea Lenta (meaning "slow line", abbreviated LL). Work has commenced on the construction of a high-speed line between Treviglio and Brescia and planning for its extension from Brescia to Padua is under way.

The line is served by Trenitalia regional trains between Milan and Verona and between Verona and Venice. The section from Pioltello to the Milan Cintura (belt) line is also served by trains of the S5 (and, in the future, S6) line of the Milan Suburban Railway Network. The Padua–Venice section is also used by the lines of the Metropolitan Regional Rail System of the Veneto region. Long distance passenger traffic is served by Trenitalia Eurostar and Cisalpino trains. The railway is also used by freight trains operated by several railway companies.

Notes

  1. ↑ "Posto di movimento"—that is, a crossover allowing trains to change tracks.
  2. ↑ "Posti di comunicazione", that is a turnout to a connecting line.
  3. ↑ "Rete FS in Esercizio (FS operating network)" (PDF) (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  4. ↑ Kalla-Bishop 1971, p. 20
  5. 1 2 "Chronological overview of the opening of railway lines from 1839 to 31 December 1926" (in Italian). Trenidicarta.it. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
  6. ↑ Ganzerla 2004
  7. ↑ Kalla-Bishop 1971, pp. 20–1
  8. ↑ Kalla-Bishop 1971, p. 116

See also

References

Media related to Milan–Venice railway line at Wikimedia Commons

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