Palermo – Salaparuta railway line

Palermo – Salaparuta
Route length:	85.254 km
Gauge :	950 mm ( Italian meter gauge )
Maximum slope :	28  ‰
Operating points and routes
Legend 0.00 Palermo lollipops 30  m slm 1.40 to Trapani 3.65 Uditore 50  m slm 7.00 Baida 167  m slm Tunnel 1 (150 m) Boccadifalco Bridge (200 m) Tunnel 2 (350 m) Tunnel 3 (150 m) Drachenbrunnenbrücke (100 m) Drachenbrunnen tunnel (20 m) Tunnel 4 (250 m) 12.00 Monreale 275  m slm Tunnel 5 (450 m) Tunnel 6 (200 m) 16.20 Fiumelato Tunnel 7 (120 m) 20.60 Altofonte 400  m slm Tunnel 8 (80 m) Tunnel 9 (170 m) Tunnel 10 (180 m) Tunnel 11 (100 m) Tunnel 12 (250 m) 28.65 Cozzo Vaccheria 585  m slm Santa Cristina Bridge (200 m) 33.60 Santa Cristina Gela 37.50 Piana degli Albanesi 637  m slm 40.80 Kumeta 615  m slm Tunnel 13 (700 m) 43.65 Masseria Kaggio 560  m slm 45.95 Masseria Cerasa 506  m slm Tunnel 14 (130 m) 52.50 San Cipirello 358  m slm Bridge 3 (130 m) Bridge 4 (140 m) 58.55 Balletto Tunnel 15 (100 m) Tunnel 16 (150 m) Bridge 5 (70 m) Bridge 6 (90 m) 65.00 Camporeal 355  m slm Poggioreale from Burgio 85.25 Salaparuta 359  m slm to Castelvetrano

The railway line Palermo – Salaparuta ( Italian Ferrovia Palermo – Salaparuta ) was a 85.2 km long narrow-gauge line in Sicily , the construction of which began in the 1930s and was discontinued a few years later without completing the line. It was supposed to lead from Palermo to Salaparuta on the narrow-gauge line Castelvetrano – San Carlo – Burgio and was the remnant of a railway line that should lead from Palermo to Trapani . Only 65 km of route including art and buildings were laid to Camporeale , which is why the route is also called the Palermo – Camporeale railway line ( Italian: Ferrovia Palermo – Camporeale ). The existing route will be used as a cycle path.

history

planning

The history of this unfinished railway line is related to the construction of rail links between the coast and inland Sicily. The poorly developed road network and sulfur mining gave rise to a larger railway network on the island. Mainly narrow-gauge lines were built, making Sicily the Italian region with the longest narrow-gauge network.

The beginnings of the project of a railway from Palermo to Salaparuta go back to the end of the 19th century. At that time, a direct rail connection between Palermo and Trapani was proposed for the first time , which would shorten the travel times compared to the 1881, the south coast running along the Palermo – Trapani railway . A first project envisaged a narrow-gauge railway that would lead via Monreale , Altofonte , Piana degli Albanesi (then Piana dei Greci ), San Cipirello , Alcamo and Calatafimi to Trapani.

In the 1920s, the project of a standard-gauge railway line Alcamo Diramazione – Trapani was created , so that the planning of the narrow-gauge railway was shortened to the line Palermo – Calatafimi, with a three-rail track being laid between Alcamo and the end point . The terminus was still called Kaggera at the time and would have been the starting point for the narrow-gauge railway to Santa Ninfa - a route that was also not completed.

construction

In 1924, construction began on the line from Palermo. The tunnels on the section to Piana degli Albanesi were completed in 1927 or 1928 when the line was still supposed to lead to Alcamo. In 1928 the section Palermo – Altafonte was at an advanced stage of construction, while construction work had started in the section Altofonte – Alcamo.

In 1928 or 1930 the project was changed again: the route from San Cipirello should no longer lead to Alcamo, but south to Camporeale and further into the Valle del Belice . Salaparuta on the Castelvetrano – San Carlo – Burgio railway should have been reached via Poggioreale . In 1929 or 1930 the construction work had already reached Camporeale, where the route ended without a train station being built.

According to some photos, the line between Palermo and Monreale seems to have had a superstructure before the Second World War , the tracks seem to have been laid on other parts of the route - at least for propaganda reasons. Building material was brought to Piana degli Albanesi.

Construction work on the section from Camporeale to Salaparuta never started.

Demolition of the construction work

Regarding the dismantling of the tracks and the abandonment of the railway construction in general, there are two different versions of the story: one says that the track and rolling stock intended for the line was urgently needed in Eritrea for the Massaua – Biscia railway line after the Abyssinian War and therefore It was made there in 1935, the other says that after the Second World War the project, like many other projects, was abandoned and the superstructure was dismantled in the course of the general shutdown of the narrow-gauge railways in Sicily. In any case, around 1950 there was no longer any track to be seen near the Malaspina prison in Palermo. However, the railway was still listed on the maps of the Military Geographic Institute from 1951 as a railway under construction , which only disappeared in the 1971 edition.

Route description

Although construction on the Palermo – Salaparuta line stopped a long time ago, there are still many structures to be seen along the route, such as train stations , guard houses , bridges and tunnels . The station buildings of train stations and bus stops have been preserved in all places, except for Camporeale, where the train station was never built. There are 29 guards' houses along the route, some in good condition, others only in ruins. Of the six longer bridges, the one in Boccadifalco is probably the best known, as it is the symbol of this neighborhood in Palermo.

From Palermo Lolli to Uditore

Palermo Lolli station - starting point of the unfinished route.

After the Palermo Lolli station , the line to Salaparuta ran parallel to the standard-gauge Palermo-Trapani line , which was laid out at street level until the 1970s before it was moved into a cut to make room for the Palermo Notarbartolo station . At the height of the northern end of the station of Palermo Notarbartolo, the narrow-gauge railway leaves the standard-gauge line, turns in a quarter circle to the west, before it leads about a hundred meters north of the Malaspina juvenile detention center over Piazza Federico Chopin. To the north of the square in the garden of a block of flats there is still a concrete wall to be seen, which was probably built along the track. The route leads past Villino Giammona, which is still standing today, crossed Via Principe di Palagonia and follows the long straight Via Giovanni Paisiello, which crosses today's Viale della Regione Siciliana . The route then turns to the southwest and runs parallel to Via Ingegnere Nicolò Mineo at a distance of a good 40 m south of the road. In this section, between Via Uditore and Via Camilliani Camillo, you will find the station guard's house No. 1. The route reaches Uditore station shortly before Via Leonardo da Vinci .

From Uditore to Baida

After the Uditore train station, the route continues straight ahead, crossing Via Leonardo da Vinci and the border between the districts of Uditore and Passo di Rigano . Through citrus plantations, it reaches the intersection of Via Dogali and Via Agordat, where the fronts of the houses are aligned parallel to the former railway line. With a small curve the route turned into Via Dogali and leads in a 1,300 m long straight to the west. At the point where the route crosses Via Sant 'Isidoro, east of the street at a sports field in Sant Isidoro is the well-preserved gatekeeper house No. 2, which is now used as a residential building.

After the guard's house, the route of today's Via Villini Sant 'Isidoro follows. At the beginning of the road the straight section of the route ends and the route begins in a wide arc which changes direction by 130 ° so that the route leads to the southeast. After a short straight section, another arch follows, which allows the route to lead to the southwest. This is followed by another short straight section to Via Alla Falconara. After the route has crossed the street, it leads through the area of ​​the small monastery of the Frati minori rinnovati , who belong to the Capuchin order . There are two discarded three-axle Ferrovie dello Stato cars that house the cells of the monastery. The cars have no connection with the unfinished track.

After the monastery, the route is no longer visible. It runs below the monastery of Baida , which is the seat of the archbishop's seminary, and crosses the premises of the zootechnical institute until it reaches the overpass on Via Luparello, which is still in the best condition. After the overpass, there is the Baida train station , which, in addition to the reception building, also includes a toilet building and goods shed . The buildings are in moderately good condition and are inhabited; the goods shed is used as a chicken coop . The station area is bordered by a retaining wall against Via Luparello.

From Baida to Monreale

After the Baida train station, the route follows an unpaved road for about 300 m until it reaches the gatekeeper house no. It is in good condition and serves as a residential building. After the guard's house, the route continues to the east. After a short curve to the left, it runs in a larger curve to the right over a well-preserved high retaining wall that offers a view of the surrounding area. This is followed by the 140 m long tunnel 1, which runs under the range of hills between the districts of Baida and Boccadifalco. On the side of Baida, the tunnel portal consists of red bricks and a masonry vault that bears a carved coat of arms with a bundle of lictors . According to local information, the tunnel has been filled, either because parts of the vault have collapsed or because the landfill material poured in front of the south portal in Boccadifalco over the years now fills the entire cross-section of the tunnel.

After the south portal of the tunnel, the route runs a few meters on a railway embankment before it crosses the Vallone del Paradiso with the 90 m long Boccadifalco Bridge. The bridge has seven openings and, despite being 80 years old, is well preserved and shows no cracks. The cladding of the parapet made of red bricks, the ends of the arches and the stone pillars are in good condition and give the building an elegant appearance. The track on the bridge is completely overgrown, but has no obvious holes or trenches. On both sides of the bridge there are three protective islands distributed over the entire length. On the side of the Boccadifalco Tunnel (Tunnel 2) there was a white marble medallion between the first and second arches of the bridge , showing a coat of arms with a bundle of lictors. This was covered with cement by a local anti-fascist group in the 1960s . Originally built in the open field, over the years the bridge was more and more enclosed by the growing Palermo district of Boccadifalco and thus became the district's landmark.

The bridge ends south directly at the portal of the Boccadifalco tunnel, which is located in a vertical rock wall. The abutment of the last arch of the bridge was carved into the rock. The portal of the 350 m long tunnel is bricked up. The tunnel was used as a garbage dump for a long time before it was finally sealed. After the tunnel there is the guard house no. 4, the route runs for half a kilometer above the SP69 until it reaches the dragon fountain of Monreale, behind which a tunnel only a few meters long runs. After a further 100 m, the route disappears in tunnel 4, which passes under the SP69. The tunnel is closed on the east side with wooden panels and provided with a gate on the west side, so that it can be assumed that the tunnel served as a warehouse at times. After the tunnel, the route becomes the Strada Ferrata, which after 1100 m passes the stationer's house No. 5 at the sewage treatment plant in Monreale and after another 600 m reaches the Monreale train station .

From Monreale to Santa Cristina Gela

Immediately after the Monreale train station follows the 450 m long tunnel 5, followed by the route of today's local road Via Linea Ferrata through the Valle dell'Oreto. In Scale, the route passes the gatekeeper house no.6. Immediately before the track reaches the Fiumelato train station at the Aquapark Monreale, it passes through the 200 m long tunnel 6 and the gatekeeper house no.7 in Fiumelato. After the train station, it crosses the Fiumelato di Meccini, a tributary to the Oreto , and now continues in a south-easterly direction through Celsa , where the stationer's house is no.8 and the route becomes Via Ferrovia Ovest. Shortly before the Altofonte train station is the 100 m long tunnel 7 and the station keeper's house No. 9. The Altofonte train station is still there, but the goods shed was demolished and replaced by a new, larger building. After the train station, tunnels 8 to 12 follow, which are 80 to 200 m long. Between tunnel 9 and tunnel 10 there is the keeper's house no.10 in poor condition, between tunnels 10 and 11 there is the keeper's house no.11, which is inhabited, and between tunnels 11 and 12 the keeper's house no.12, which is in is in bad shape. Some of the tunnels near Altofonte were used by the German Wehrmacht as ammunition depot during the Second World War . About seven kilometers after Altofonte, the route turns south and follows the SP38. 500 m after the change of direction, the route passes the gatekeeper house No. 13 near Casale, which is opposite a go- kart track on the SP38. After another 650 m, you will reach the Cozzo Vaccheria stop, the building of which is still standing but in poor condition.

After Cozzo Vaccheria, the route runs for almost three kilometers west of the SP38 and is partly no longer visible before it crosses the SP38 and runs on the valley side of it. About half a kilometer after the intersection with the SP38 is the 200 m long Santa Cristina Bridge and the keeper's house no. 14. The route then turns to the northwest and after 1700 m reaches Santa Cristina Gela , where the train station is below the City lies. In front of the station, at the point where Via Enrico Caruso branches off from the SP38, there is a soda bridge , which would have been the overpass of the road over the railway.

Santa Cristina Gela to Camporeale

After the Santa Cristina Gela train station, 400 m distance is the gatekeeper house No. 15. The route runs in the direction of Piana di Albanesi above the SP5. About half a kilometer west of the confluence of the SP38 with the SP5, the route runs directly above the road, where the gatekeeper house No. 16 is located. The route moves away from the road and leads in a wide arc from the north into Piana di Albanesi. Shortly before the town's train station is the uninhabited caretaker's house no.17. The route leads in a wide arc towards the southwest around Lake Piana degli Albanesi and reaches the Piana di Albanesi train station, which is in poor condition and has the roof of the goods shed collapsed. After the train station, the route leads south in a wide left-hand curve. After the arch, 450 m from the train station, there is the keeper's house No. 18, the roof of which has also collapsed. Then the route follows a driveway for 12 km, on which the keeper's house no.19 is located. The Kumeta stop building is located near the dam of Lake Piana degli Albanesi, followed by a 600 m long tunnel under Monte Kumeta, which is the longest tunnel on the route. After the tunnel there is an arch to the west and the Masseria Kaggio stop is 1700 m away. The stop building is still there, but is no longer used.

After the stop, the caretaker's house No. 20 follows less than a kilometer away, in a dilapidated condition; after another kilometer, the Masseria Cerasa stop is reached, the building of which is in a dilapidated condition. 500 m after the stop there is a 130 m long tunnel, then 350 m away the keeper's house no. 21. The keeper's house no. 22 is at the point where the road branches off to Monte Iato , where the excavation site of Iaitas is located . The route passes the keeper's house no. 23 and reaches the well-preserved San Cipirello train station. After the station, the line bends in a wide arc to the south and runs first under today's SP2, later west of it. At the point where the route leaves the SP2 there is a 130 m long stone arch bridge , which is immediately followed by the keeper's house no. 24 in a dilapidated state. After about two kilometers there is the keeper's house No. 25 and a 140 m long stone arch bridge. The route then follows a wide curve to the right and after about 1200 m it reaches the Balletto stop, where the building is still in moderately good condition. Shortly after the bus stop is the keeper's house No. 26, the roof of which has collapsed. After the route has crossed the SP111, it leads past the caretaker's house No. 27, which is only a ruin. Before Camporeale, the route leads back to the west and, with tunnels 15 and 16, crossed two hills, the tunnels are now filled in and no longer visible. The route approaches the SP20, where the keeper's house No. 28 is also located. On the route to Camporeale, two short stone arch bridges follow, which, in contrast to the previous structures , are designed with segment arches - the first 70 m long, the second 90 m long. About 900 m after the second bridge follows the ruins of the guard's house no. 29. At this point the 64.75 km long route ends, the Camporeale station was no longer built, nor was the continuation to Salaparuta.

building

The buildings along the route were built according to standardized plans, but these have been changed over time. Keepers' houses No. 1 to 9 have two floors with a floor plan of 8 × 10 m and one window per floor on the front sides of the building. From the keeper's house no. 10, the floor plan was enlarged to 10 × 10 m and two windows per floor were arranged on the front sides.

There were three designs for the stations:

• The important train stations had a reception building with an 18 × 20 m floor plan. There were four windows on the long side and three windows on each floor on the front. The goods shed with a floor area of ​​12 × 12 m was attached to it.
• The smaller stations had a reception building with a 16 × 8 m floor plan with three windows on the long side and a single one on the front. The attached goods shed had the dimensions 11 × 7 m.
• The stops in the rural areas did not have a goods shed, only the reception building of the small train stations.

The Santa Cristina Gela train station does not correspond to the standard versions described above. The station building is about the same length as that of the small train stations, but much wider with three windows at the front.

Plans for further use of the route

As part of the promotion of cross-community tourism infrastructure projects by the Province of Palermo , the Province of Palermo worked with the Province's tourist office on a project to use the old railway line as a cycle path . Together with the cycle path, a biotope network is to be created along the route. The project was presented to the responsible body for environmental issues and approved by them in November 2005. The plan initially included all the discontinued railway lines in the upper part of the Valle del Belice and around Corleone , but only the Palermo – Corleone – San Carlo railway line was taken into account in the later implementation . According to the plans, however, it can be assumed that the Palermo – Salaparuta railway line could be one of the next projects to be implemented, as technical studies have already been carried out for the sections in Monreale and Altofonte.

The railway line built over 90 years ago still has a good chance of being converted into a cycle path - including the sections in Palermo. The greatest difficulties are to be expected in the sections where the route runs through fenced-in area which, although probably still owned by the state, has been rented to private individuals. If the station keeper's houses and station buildings were to be converted, replacements would have to be created for the current residents. The buildings had already been assigned to future railway officials and are now inhabited by their descendants. Some parts of the route and some tunnels require a thorough renovation before they can be used for the cycle path.

Web links

• Alessandro Palma: Il tracciato della linea ferroviaria Palermo Lolli - Salaparuta. Retrieved on August 21, 2014 (in Italian, route map, list of station keeper's houses incomplete). 
• Ex-ferrovia Palermo – Monreale – Salaparuta. Retrieved on August 21, 2014 (Italian, picture collection of the route, also available on Google Earth ). 
• La ferrovia Palermo-Camporeale. Retrieved July 31, 2009 (Italian). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Le galerie di Camporeale ed altri racconti. Retrieved on August 21, 2014 (Italian, kilometrage and engineering structures). 
2. ^ G. Condorelli, P. Simon: Studio per la realizzazione di una rete di percorsi verdi dedicata alla mobilita non motorizzata in Sicilia. Regione Siciliana, Medoc, April 10, 2004, p. 39 , accessed on August 21, 2014 (Italian, altitude information). 
3. ^ Nico Molino: Railway Atlas Italy a. Slovenia . Schweers + Wall, Turin 2010, ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1 (distance Palermo Lolli – Palermo Notarbartolo).
4. ^ ^{A b} Touring Club Italiano (ed.): Guida Rossa "Sicilia" . 1928.
5. ↑ Document of the Prefecture of Palermo on the expropriation of land in the municipality of Monreale, 1928
6. ↑ ^{a b} Linea incompiuta Palermo Lolli - Camporeale - (Salaparuta). In: Ferrovie Abbandonate . Retrieved August 21, 2014 (Italian). 
7. ↑ The inscriptions on the tunnel portal bear the year 6, which according to the fascist calendar lasted from October 28, 1927 to October 27, 1928.
8. ↑ The inscriptions on the bridges bear the year 8, which according to the fascist calendar lasted from October 28, 1929 to October 27, 1930.
9. ^ Correzione d'errore 1: da piazza Lolli alla via Falconara. 2011, accessed August 26, 2014 (Italian). 
10. ↑ Rosario La Duca: Da Panormos Palermo. La città ieri e oggi . Pietro Vittorietti Edizioni, Palermo 2006, ISBN 88-7231-089-X .
11. ^ Adriana Chirco, Mario Di Liberto: Via Notarbartolo. Via Marchese Ugo e il Girato della Madonna ieri e oggi . Dario Flaccovio Editore, Palermo 2000, ISBN 88-7758-393-2 , pp. 123 .
12. ^ Fra Bernardo Iannuzzi: Il fondatore dei Frati Minori Rinnovati . In: La Voce del Santuario di Maria SS. Delle Grazie . tape 77 , no. 2 , 2006, p. 8 ( pdf [accessed on 23 August 2014]).
13. ↑ ^{a b} Riconversione in percorsi ciclabili delle linee ferroviarie dismesse nell'area dell'Alto Belice-Corleonese, con fnzione di vie verdi e corridoi ecologici. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 6, 2014 ; Retrieved August 25, 2014 (Italian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.