Salemi – Kaggera railway line

Salemi – Kaggera
Route length:	26.3 km
Gauge :	950 mm ( Italian meter gauge )
Legend from Trapani (via Castelvetrano) 9.10 from Santa Ninfa until 1954 9.50 Salemi - Gibellina 225  m slm to Alcamo Diramazione 18.50 Salemi Città 335  m slm 21.35 Fiumelungo 380  m slm 24.75 Vita 430  m slm 32.20 Calatafimi Città 230  m slm from Trapani 35.80 Calatafimi (planned name: Kaggera ) 160  m slm to Alcamo Diramazione

The railway Salemi-Kaggera ( Italian Ferrovia Salemi-Kaggera ) is an unfinished section of the in Italian meter gauge running narrow gauge network in Sicily . It was part of the route that should have connected Santa Ninfa to Trapani via Calatafimi and Milo .

history

The development of Sicily with standard-gauge railway lines was slow, so that the region and the local communities wanted to finance a narrow-gauge line that was to connect the Valle del Belice directly with the provincial capital Trapani . The route would have led from Santa Ninfa via Calatafimi to Trapani.

The narrow-gauge line from Santa Ninfa to Kaggera station near Calatafimi would have been 35.8 km long. It would have led from Santa Ninfa via the Salemi station (today Salemi - Gibellina ) on the standard gauge line Palermo – Trapani opened in 1881 through the places Salemi, Vita and Calatafimi to its end point.

The line should have been built by the Costruzione ed Esercizio di Ferrovie (CEF), like the Palermo – Salaparuta line, which was also not completed . In the 1920s, the high-rise buildings, the engineering structures and the railway were built. After the decision in 1921 to build the Calatafimi – Trapani line as a standard-gauge line instead of a narrow-gauge line at the expense of the state, the Salemi – Kaggera line was no longer completed and the Calatafimi – Alcamo Diramazione section was built, which has a direct connection from Palermo to Trapani made it possible. The entire Calatafimi – Alcamo Diramazione route was opened in 1937.

From the originally planned narrow-gauge line from Santa Ninfa to Trapani, only the short section Santa Ninfa-Salemi , which opened in 1935, was therefore built. It ended at the Salemi train station (today Salemi-Gibellina ) on the Palermo – Trapani railway line and still enabled fast connections from Santa Ninfa to Trapani via Alcamo Diramazione.

The originally called Kaggera station on the Alcamo Diramazione – Trapani line was renamed Calatafimi because it was the closest station to the city after the narrow-gauge line with the Calatafimi Città station was not built.

Along the Salemi – Calatafimi line, many structures such as train stations , guard houses and bridges are still preserved today, such as the flyover over Strada statale 113 a few meters from the reception building and goods shed of the Calatafimi Città station , which is located in the Castello district of Calatafimi.

Web links

• Ricostruzione del tracciato della ferrovia Santa Ninfa-Salemi-Kaggera. January 10, 2013, accessed March 8, 2014 (Italian). 
• Alessandro Palma: Il tracciato della linea ferroviaria Salemi - Kaggera. Retrieved March 8, 2014 (Italian). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Linea Palermo-Trapani. In: Tren Doc. Retrieved August 19, 2014 (Italian).