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Alessandria–Piacenza railway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alessandria–Piacenza railway
Map of the railway
Overview
Native nameFerrovia Alessandria–Piacenza
StatusOperational
Line number33
Service
Operator(s)Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
History
Commenced16 January 1856
Opened25 January 1858
Completed1860
Technical
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in)
Electrification3 kV direct current
Route map

km
0.000
Alessandria
7.568
Spinetta
13.776
San Giuliano Piemonte
20.090
ex Tortona junction
A7E62
tramway from Sale (closed 1933)
21.915
Tortona
link to S.A. Tramvie a Vapore
della Provincia di Alessandria
tramway to Monleale (closed 1934) and
line to Castelnuovo Scrivia (closed 1933)
30.663
Pontecurone
38.118
Voghera (FAA) / Voghera (RFI)
FS–FAA link
FAA line to Varzi (closed 1966)
Coppa
47.604
Casteggio
52.366
Santa Giuletta
59.495
Broni
63.290
Stradella
67.987
Arena Po
74.635
Castel San Giovanni
78.998
Sarmato
83.603
Rottofreno
88.121
San Nicolò
96.513
Piacenza (SIFT) / Piacenza (RFI)
FS–SIFT link
km
Source: Italian railway atlas[1]
Bridge over the Trebbia

The Alessandria–Piacenza railway is a railway located in northern Italy connecting the regions of Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, and Piedmont. The railway is 96 kilometres (60 mi) long and it is managed by RFI.[2] It links the rail hub of Alessandria with that of Piacenza, passing through the cities of Tortona, Voghera, and Stradella.

History

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The works for the construction of the railway began on 16 January 1856: the initial project included the section between Alessandria and Stradella, as well as a branch from Tortona to Novi Ligure.[3] In June 1858 a decree was approved by the Chamber for the Facilitazione per l'unione della Società della ferrovia da Alessandria e Novi a Stradella con quella di Piacenza (Facilitation of the union of the railway company from Alessandria and Novi to Stradella with that of Piacenza)[4] In 1859, the territory of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza were incorporated into the United Provinces of Central Italy and subsequently annexed to the Kingdom of Sardinia as a result of the plebiscite of 12 March 1860. Following the annexation, the railway was extended to Piacenza.

Section Opened[5]
Alessandria-Casteggio 25 January 1858
Casteggio-Stradella 22 July 1858
Stradella-Castel San Giovanni 5 September 1859
Castel San Giovanni-San Nicolò 20 October 1859
San Nicolò-ponte Trebbia 20 November 1859
ponte Trebbia-Piacenza 19 January 1860

The first section, between Alessandria and Casteggio was opened on 25 January 1858. The section was opened to Stradella in the following July, while the Piacenza sections of the line were opened between 1859 and 1860, the last of which, between the bridge over the Trebbia river and Piacenza, was opened to traffic on 19 January 1860.[5]

Starting from 1 July 1905, under law no.137 of 22 April 1905, the operation of the railway line was taken over by the Italian state, through the newly established Azienda autonoma per l'esercizio delle Ferrovie Italiane (Ferrovie dello Stato), under the control of the Ministry of Public Works.

A crash occurred at Voghera on the night of 31 May 1962, when a freight train from Milan hit the end of a passenger train that was stationary on platform 3 and about to leave for Genoa. 64 people lost their lives, and 40 were seriously injured, 4 of whom later died in hospital bringing the death toll to 64.[6]

Characteristics

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The railway has a gauge of 1435 mm. It is electrified at 3000V, and it can bear a weight of 22.5 tons per axis.[2]

References

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Railway Atlas 2017, pp. 32–34, 121, 141.
  2. ^ a b Linea ferroviaria Voghera - Piacenza (tratta lombarda) Archived 2015-11-21 at the Wayback Machine trail.unioncamerelombardia.it
  3. ^ "Museo ferroviario di Bussoleno" (PDF) (in Italian). Province of Turin.it. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  4. ^ "Facilitazione per l'unione della Società della ferrovia da Alessandria e Novi a Stradella con quella di Piacenza" (in Italian). Parliament of Italy. 8 June 1858. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  5. ^ a b Prospetto cronologico 1926.
  6. ^ "Tragedia sui binari". Il Sole 24 Ore (in Italian). 7 January 2004. Archived from the original on 4 July 2009. Retrieved 26 August 2020.

Sources

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