Trento–Venice railway

The Trento–Venice railway is an Italian state-owned railway line connecting Trento, in Trentino-Alto Adige, to Mestre, a suburb of Venice, in the Veneto region. At Mestre, it connects to the main line from Verona.

Trento–Venice railway
Viaduct of the railway in Trento.
Overview
Other name(s)	Valsugana railway
Status	Active
Owner	RFI, kkStB (historic)
Locale	Italy
Termini	Trento Venice Mestre
Stations	36
Service
Type	Light rail, light metro
Operator(s)	Trenitalia, Trentino Trasporti
History
Commenced	1896 (1896)
Opened	1910 (1910)
Technical
Line length	157 km (98 mi)
Number of tracks	single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3000 V DC (Bassano del Grappa-Mestre)
Operating speed	55–140 km/h (34–87 mph)
Signalling	SCMT
Train protection system	SSC
Highest elevation	474 m (1,555 ft)
Route map Legend km elev from Innsbruck TT line from Mezzana 146.994 Trento (FS) / Trento FTM 193 m to Verona Fersina 143.534 Trento Santa Chiara (opened 2006) 142.815 Trento San Bartolameo (opened 2007) San Rocco tunnel 140.598 Villazzano 280 m 138.147 Povo-Mesiano (opened 1995[1]) Albi tunnel Roncogno 421 m 129.543 Pergine 468 m 126.810 San Cristoforo al Lago-Ischia 454 m 122.669 Calceranica 452 m 120.233 Caldonazzo 467 m Brenta 116.845 Levico Terme 455 m Barco 435 m Novaledo (closed 1961[2]) Brenta 108.025 Roncegno Bagni-Marter 416 m Brenta 103.301 Borgo Valsugana Centro 390 m 102.450 Borgo Valsugana Est Brenta Castelnuovo 351 m 98.409 Strigno 349 m 95.466 Ospedaletto 306 m 88.805 Grigno 252 m 87.873 high point of line 83.819 Tezze di Grigno 230 m Trentino-Alto Adige Veneto border 80.002 Primolano 218 m once planned link to Feltre Cismon 73.747 Cismon del Grappa 194 m 69.509 San Marino 180 m 64.489 Carpanè-Valstagna 156 m 60.992 San Nazario 143 m 57.493 Solagna 138 m 56.059 Pove del Grappa-Campese (closed 1951[3]) 136 m military railway from Crespano (start of electrification) 51.283 Bassano del Grappa 149 m tramway to Vicenza to Padua 45.401 Cassola 94 m 37.376 Castello di Godego 53 m from Vicenza from Camposampiero 32.135 Castelfranco Veneto 40 m to Montebelluna to Treviso 27.286 Resana 32 m 23.312 Piombino Dese 26 m Treviso-Ostiglia railway 18.879 Trebaseleghe (opened 2005[4]) 14.837 Noale-Scorzè 16 m 11.316 Salzano-Robegano 13 m (7.499) 10.492 Maerne di Martellago (start of double track) 8 m (5.520) Orgnano double junction 7.016 (4.477) Spinea junction/PC Valsugana level crossing (Venice Belt) deviation opened 2008 (4.485) Venezia Asseggiano (closed 2008) 6.809 Spinea (opened 2008) Mestre–Mirano tramway -.--- (1.417) Maerne ramp (to Milan) 3.518 from Adria Catene junction A 57 (0.967) to Udine and to Trieste 0.000 257.907 Venezia Mestre 4 m Venezia Marghera goods yard 260.191 Venezia Porto Marghera 4 m Ponte della Libertà Venetian Lagoon Venezia Marittima 266.341 Venezia Santa Lucia 4 m km Source: Italian railway atlas[5] This diagram: view talk edit

The line is managed by RFI, a company of the Ferrovie dello Stato group. Passenger traffic is run by Trenitalia, which also runs regional trains ordered by the Veneto region; in the province of Trento, Trentino Trasporti fulfills this role (line 401).

History

Railway lines had been built from Trento, in what was then part of Austria-Hungary, in 1859 southwards to Verona, and in 1867 northwards to Bolzano and the Brenner pass; today these form the Brenner Railway, the main railway connection between Italy and Austria. On the Italian side a line was built from Bassano del Grappa to Padua in 1877, and an extension to the Italian-Austrian border at Primolano was studied. However, when the Veneto joined the Kingdom of Italy, a new border was established at Tezze di Grigno, and hence the Austrians constructed a railway from Trento to Tezze in 1896, where it joined the Italian Valsugana railway line.^[6]

On the Italian side, the line from Mestre via Primolano to the border was built between 1906 and 1910, with the first part, to Bassano del Grappa, opening in 1908, and a second to Carpanè Valstagna the following year. Primolano now became an international border station,^[7] though only for a few years, as Trentino-Alto Adige became part of Italy after the First World War.

The line was electrified in the 1980s from Castelfranco Veneto to Venezia Mestre, and in 2003 from Castelfranco Veneto to Bassano del Grappa. Other improvements in the 2000s included a so-called 'light surface metro' - a half-hourly local train service which also services a series of new suburban stations in the Trento region. For this service, new trains of the Minuetto type were bought by Trentino Trasporti in order to replace the old FS Class ALn 668. A similar suburban service might be installed between Mestre and Castelfranco Veneto, but track improvements necessary for such a service are rendered difficult by the Padua-Venice section of the Verona–Venice high-speed railway.

Characteristics

The 157-kilometre long (98 mi) railway line is single track all the way from Trento to Maerne di Martellago, near Mestre, where it becomes double track for the last 10 km. All of it is standard gauge, and the line is electrified at 3000 V from Mestre to Bassano del Grappa, where the maximum speed is 120–140 km/h (75–87 mph). Beyond Bassano, maximum speeds are much lower, with an average grade of 10 per thousand, increasing to 22 per thousand beyond Primolano; the steepest section is between Trento and Villazzano shich is also the slowest section with 55 km/h (34 mph). The section between Trento and Primolano will be also electrified at 3000 V to improve the light metro services in Trentino. Trains take about 3.5 hours to cover the complete distance, for an average speed of below 50 km/h.

Services

Regional railway services are offered by Trenitalia and Trentino Trasporti from Trento to Bassano del Grappa (hourly), and from Bassano del Grappa to Venice Santa Lucia (hourly, since 2013). Additionally, hourly 'light surface metro' (metropolitana leggera di superficie) services are offered in peak hours between Borgo Valsugana East and Trento and between Castelfranco Veneto East and Venice.

Gallery

• 
  An Alstom Minuetto DMU at Trento railway station
• 
  Railway at Calceranica al lago by the shore of Caldonazzo Lake
• 
  A train entering Primolano railway station
• 
  A SSC transponder on a wayside signal in Solagna
• 
  A restored FS Class 740 steam locomotive at Solagna
• 
  A ALn 668 railcar at Bassano del Grappa railway station

See also

• List of railway lines in Italy

References

Notes

1. "Nuova fermata". I Treni (in Italian). XVI (165). Salò: Editrice Trasporti su Rotaie: 6. November 1995. ISSN 0392-4602.
2. "unknown". Ordine di Servizio (in Italian) (51). 1961. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
3. "unknown". Ordine di Servizio (in Italian) (38). 1951. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
4. "Impianti FS". I Treni (in Italian). XXV (274): 7. October 2005. ISSN 0392-4602.
5. Railway Atlas 2017, pp. 9, 24, 25, 137, 138.
6. Facchinelli, Laura (1992). "La ferrovia della Valsugana". Linea Treno (5).
7. Prospetto cronologico 1926.

Bibliography

• Del Zotto, Pierangelo; Vigato, Sandro (1986). "Catenarie... a prova di bomba!". I Treni Oggi (66): 16–17.
• Tuzza, Alessandro, ed. (1927). "Prospetto cronologico dei tratti di ferrovia aperti all'esercizio dal 1839 al 31 dicembre 1926" (in Italian). Ufficio Centrale di Statistica delle Ferrovie dello Stato/Trenidicarta.it. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
• Atlante ferroviario d'Italia e Slovenia [Railway atlas of Italy and Slovenia]. Schweers + Wall. 2010. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1.