History of the railways in Italy

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Opening trip of the Naples – Portici railway in 1839, painting by Salvatore Fergola

The history of the railway in Italy began in 1839 when the first railway on the peninsula started operating. After the unification of the majority of the route network in 1905, private and state-owned railways became a state railroad , which has since operated most of the rail traffic in Italy.

First railways in individual Italian states

Replica of the first Italian train in the National Railway Museum in Pietrarsa

The first railway line on what is now Italian soil was opened on October 3, 1839 in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Regno delle due Sicilie) . The 7.6 km long railway line Naples - Portici ran from Naples to Granatello di Portici . The first locomotives on this line were called VESUVIO , after the neighboring volcano , and BAYARD , after the engineer Armand Bayard de la Vingtrie , who was responsible for this railway project. Both locomotives were supplied by the RB Longridge and Co. locomotive works in Bedlington . With the locomotives from Great Britain , Italy also adopted the " normal gauge " of 1435 mm as the standard gauge . If narrow-gauge railways were built later , a gauge of 950 mm was usually used.

The second railway on what was later to become Italian soil was opened on August 18, 1840 in the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia from Milan to Monza , 13 km away . King of Regno Lombardo-Veneto was at this time in personal union the Emperor of Austria . The society of the K. k. priv. Lombard-Venetian Ferdinand Railway was founded in 1837 to build a railway connection between Milan and Venice . Due to financial difficulties, this could not be completed until January 11, 1846 with the construction of the lagoon bridge Ponte della Libertà to Venice .

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany ( Granducato di Toscana ) followed on March 14, 1844 with a route between Livorno and Florence (it. Ferrovia Leopolda ), which was not completed until 1848 due to the War of Independence . On September 2, 1848, a railway line was opened between Turin and Moncalieri in the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont .

The 169 km long Turin – Genoa railway over the Giovipass was opened on December 24, 1855 by the Strada Ferrata Torino-Genova .

In that time still geographically extensive, under the rule of Pope standing Kirchenstaat the 20 km long railway line from the Roman station was opened on June 14, 1856 Porta Maggiore to Frascati -Campitelli opened. The locomotives of this first railway in the Papal States also came from English production.

In the period that followed, the railway network in the Italian states expanded continuously. In 1860 1,800 km of routes were in operation, 350 km of which belonged to the state and the remaining 1,450 km to seven public companies.

Reorganization in the Kingdom of Italy

Italy's railway network 1861
Italy's railway network 1871

The expansion of the network also continued when Italy was unified in 1861 under King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont. The management of the northern Italian Strade Ferrate dell'Alta Italia (SFAI) came to the Rothschild family , as the Italian tax authorities were still unable to take over the railway operations. In the following years the state endeavored to reorganize the Italian railway network. At that time the network covered approx. 2370 km, which were divided as follows:

  • 912 km in the former Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont,
  • 522 km in Lombardy and Veneto,
  • 257 km in Tuscany and Lucca and
  • 99 km in the former Kingdom of the Two Sicilies around Naples .

In order to avoid foreign capital controlling the Italian railways, the influence of the Italian banks on the rail networks was strengthened. In the period that followed, the railway companies consolidated themselves into mergers and thus formed larger companies:

In 1860–1867, 2,800 km of new lines were built. In the period that followed, the state became increasingly involved in the railways: in 1869 it bought the Società per le Strade Ferrate dell'Alta Italia network, which is over 3,000 km long . In 1872 there were almost 7,000 km of railway lines in Italy, 6,470 km of which were subordinate to the four largest railway companies:

  • Società per le Strade Ferrate dell'Alta Italia, 3,006 km
  • Società per le Strade Ferrate Romane, 1,586 km
  • Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali, 1,327 km
  • Società per le Strade Ferrate Calabro-Sicule, 551 km

Between private and state enterprise 1875–1905

Financial crisis

This division should ensure that the companies a balanced volume of traffic and equal access to ports and to the Alpine passes. However, the companies suffered from a lack of financial resources, the maintenance of the railway infrastructure and rolling stock suffered. The state therefore bought the infrastructure, but the route management was left to the individual railway companies. When that wasn't enough either, their costs were gradually taken over. Routes with little traffic, but of great strategic military value, were kept running with government subsidies. In fact, the state took over the Strade Ferrate Romane (SFR) in 1875 and the Strade Ferrate dell'Alta Italia (SFAI) in 1876 .

Law of 1879: State Railway Construction

In 1878 a commission was set up to investigate the situation of the Italian railways. Italy responded to the result of the investigation with the law of 29 July 1879 for the construction of 6,020 km of new lines worth 1.2 billion lire . The law laid down the routes and classified them into four classes according to their importance for traffic. Construction began in 1880 and the network was expanded to 9666 km by the end of 1883, 4525 km of which were operated by the state.

Law of 1885: Privatization

In 1879, however, it was also decided to privatize the state railways - initially for 20 years, with two options for extension until 1945. To this end, the state railways should be converted into a small number of private companies. After 65 votes, the law (No. 3048 of April 27, 1885) was adopted and the operation of the Italian railways was transferred to three independent administrations in the same year:

For commercial and strategic reasons, the two mainland railways had a number of jointly operated stations , for example in Naples , Rome, Pisa , Florence , Milan , Pavia , Piacenza , Taranto and Livorno . In addition, some routes were used by trains from both companies. A central inspectorate, the Spettorato Generale , was set up to monitor the three railway administrations .

Law of 1888: further railway construction by the state

Another law of July 20, 1888 ensured that the new lines planned by the law of July 29, 1879 were implemented in full and on time. The necessary funds should be provided through private banks. It was planned to create the remaining 3,066 km as follows:

  • Lines, the construction of which had already been started by the state, should also be completed in this way. It was 1,471 km worth 890 million lire.
  • Further routes should be built by private contractors. It was about 505 km worth 303 million lire.
  • The operating companies were supposed to set up a third set of routes. That was the case for 1090 km worth 417 million lire.

The estimated cost of all the railways envisaged by the 1879 Act and its subsequent amendments grew from the originally planned 1,210 million lire to 2,431 million lire, including 1,610 million lire for the lines not yet started at the end of 1888.

The Kingdom of Italy had on 1 January 1892 railway network with the following data:

  • Length: 14,453 km
  • 4.7 km route length on 100 km²
  • 4.4 km route length for 10,000 inhabitants
  • Investment capital: Lire 3 billion for 10,233 km (1887)
  • Income (1888) Lire 244.7 million
  • Expenditure (1888) 165.4 million lire
  • 2,461 locomotives
  • 7,201 passenger cars
  • 41,497 freight cars

The railway also operated some ferry services from mainland Italy to Sardinia.

State Railway Ferrovie dello Stato

1905: Founding of Ferrovie dello Stato (FS)

The privatization decision was renewed two years before the date set in the 1885 Act. At the same time, there were increasing strikes by railway workers, which severely impaired railway operations and public life. The railways took this as an opportunity to stop investments. Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti therefore insisted on nationalization, contrary to the decision of 1903. On April 22nd, 1905, Law No. 137 was passed by which the state took over the three large companies, and on June 15th of the same year by decree the Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) was created, which was subordinate to the Ministry of Public Works . Most of the Italian railways were thus united in a state railway . Its first general manager was Riccardo Bianchi .

In addition to the Ferrovie dello Stato network on the Italian peninsula, there were also a number of railway companies of only regional importance, such as the Ferrovie Complementari della Sardegna and the Strade Ferrate Sarde with a network of approx. 1000 km on the island of Sardinia between 1911 and 1989 Route kilometers. Other important smaller companies are Ferrovie del Sud Est (FSE) in Apulia or Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM).

Consequences of the world wars

"Centoporte" - the typical Italian passenger coach from the interwar period
Car of the royal train of the Italian king (1929) in the Pietrarsa Railway Museum

As a result of the First World War , several hundred kilometers of the previously Austrian crown lands Tyrol , Carniola , Gorizia , the margraviate of Istria and Trieste as well as short sections of the kingdom of Croatia, which was previously in the Kingdom of Hungary , came to Italy. The most important routes taken over were the Brennerbahn south of the Brenner Pass , the section of the Southern Railway Company from Ljubljana to Trieste and most of the Wocheinerbahn . In the course of the division of the assets of the Austro-Hungarian railways, Italy received a large number of vehicles. Many of them were not needed by Italy and were soon scrapped or given to other railways.

In the wake of the Second World War , Italy lost the routes east of Trieste again due to territorial cessions. They came to Yugoslavia .

2000: Breakdown of the FS

Trenitalia ALn 668.1713 entering Rovigo from Chioggia

Due to European legal requirements, the FS was divided into individual companies in 2000. Today the FS has the following subsidiaries:

From 2001 to 2018, the subsidiary Centostazioni, which was subsequently integrated into RFI, also operated the 103 medium-sized station buildings in Italy.

Technical developments

First locomotive factories

As with most European railways, the first steam locomotives were initially imported from Great Britain. Due to the connection between the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont and France , locomotives were soon also supplied from there. Later, Austrian and German, as well as Hungarian suppliers for the first electric locomotives , appeared before the company developed its own locomotive construction in Italy. The first Italian plant to maintain and repair locomotives was the Officine Pietrarsa . It was set up in Pietrarsa , south of Naples , on the first Italian railway line between Naples and Portici in 1844 . The National Railway Museum Pietrarsa of Trenitalia is located in the complex today .

After only two years, the first Italian steam locomotive DUCA DI CALABRIA (whose components still came from England) left the factory hall there. It was a so-called long boiler with a 1A1 wheel arrangement, developed 100 hp and reached a top speed of 65 km / h. Officine Pietrarsa delivered 20 locomotives by 1860 .

The second Italian locomotive factory was founded in 1846 when the Turin businessman Fortunato Prandi merged with the British engineer Philip Taylor in Genoa . The company was taken over by Giovanni Ansaldo in 1852 and converted into a limited partnership in 1853 , in which the banker Carlo Bombrini , the shipowner Raffaele Rubattino and the entrepreneur Filippo Penco were involved. The Ansaldo company built the first SANPIERDARENA and ALESSANDRIA locomotives, developed in-house in Italy, in 1854 . Ansaldo subsequently became one of the largest mechanical engineering and shipbuilding companies in Italy.

The peninsula's two major rail networks had their own development centers from 1885 onwards. The Ufficio Studi in Florence also developed vehicles for smaller Italian companies such as the Rete Sicula .

The Breda locomotive factory in Milan was founded in 1886 by Ernesto Breda after taking over the Milanese railway manufacturer Elvetica and later renamed Società Italiana Ernesto Breda per Costruzioni Meccaniche (SIEB).

Steam locomotive construction

Construction drawing of the FS Gr 640
FS 480 in the Railway Museum Pietrarsa

Since the geography of the Italian peninsula is very different, the administrations of the two major railways developed a number of different types of locomotives. The Rete Adriatica developed locomotives with large wheel diameters for express trains, the best-known series of which are the 550 and 545 .

In contrast, the Rete Mediterraneo mainly developed locomotives for use on mountain routes. One of the better-known RM steam locomotives is the VITTORIO EMANUELE II , a machine with the “C” wheel arrangement , the later FS class 650 , for passenger trains and the “Mastodonti dei Giovi” (later RM class 420 ) for mountain routes.

In order to meet the increasing requirements, two new innovative technologies were introduced around 1900: the compound technology and superheated steam boiler . FS ordered the first 24 machines of the 640 I / 640 II series from Schwartzkopff in Berlin. These locomotives were equipped with Schmidt superheaters and proved themselves in operation.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Kingdom of Italy in 1911, the latest Italian locomotives were presented at an exhibition in Turin. The current developments from abroad presented at the same time, such as the Bavarian S 3/6 , showed that the Italian steam locomotives were less efficient. This was mainly due to the lighter superstructure in Italy, which did not allow a higher axle load than 15 to 16 tons, while in Germany 18 to 21 tons were possible.

During the First World War, no new developments were pursued and production was limited to a few types of locomotive. The 685 series became the classic passenger steam locomotive and the 740 series became “the” freight steam locomotive. After the end of the First World War, German and Austrian locomotives came into Italian hands as reparations. Experiments with these machines drove the development forward. This is how the Franco-Crosti preheating systems and superheated steam machines came about . The most powerful Italian steam locomotive, the FS 480 , a 1'E locomotive type , was also inspired by the 580 series of the Austrian Southern Railway .

The last Italian steam locomotive development for the FS was delivered between 1928 and 1929. Further developments were then only made for abroad, u. a. for Eastern Europe and Greece. As the last steam locomotives from Italy, Breda and Ansaldo delivered 20 machines of the Ma series, a 1-E-1 locomotive with 2700 hp, for the Greek State Railways (then: Sidirodromoi Ellinikou Kratos ) from 1953 to 1954 .

Introduction of electrical operation

Electric multiple unit E1 from 1902
Simplon Express (Paris – Trieste) of the SBB with an Italian three-phase current locomotive Fb 3/5 with retrofitted BBC double bars

First attempts with electrical operation on Italian railways took place with two series of accumulator railcars both at the Rete Mediterranea (from 1898 to 1904) and at the Rete Adriatica (from 1901 to 1903) on the railways Milan – Monza , Bologna – San Felice and Bologna –Modena instead. 1901–1902 the " Ferrovie Varesine " were equipped with busbars for electrical operation . This system was also chosen in 1925 for the “Metropolitana FS” in Naples .

On the northern Italian Valtelina the Rete Adriatica 1902, the first having been high-voltage electrified main line of the world put into operation. The company Ganz & Cie from Budapest supplied the supply with three-phase current of initially 3,000 volts and 15 Hz as well as four-axle Bo'Bo 'railcars and two Bo + Bo locomotives ( RA 341 and RA 342 ). From 1905 three 1'C'1 three-phase AC locomotives ( RA 361–363 ) were still in use. This was the beginning of the northern Italian "Trifase" - three-phase network, which later extended to Piedmont , Liguria and Trentino . The Tendabahn was also electrified with this system from 1935 to 1940. The overhead line of the Italian "Trifase" network consisted of two parallel wires and the rail as the third phase conductor. Accordingly, the locomotives had pantographs with paired brackets that were insulated from one another. With the first locomotives, the speeds were initially only switchable, but not infinitely variable. Common speed levels were 35, 50, 75 and 100 kilometers per hour.

From 1930 both were Valtelina and all other "Trifase 'routes to 3,600 V and a frequency of 16  2 / 3  switched Hz. In parallel to the existing three-phase system, a direct current system with 3000 volts was introduced on the Benevento-Napoli line from 1923 onwards and further lines were equipped with it. Since May 1976, all of the originally more than 2,000 km route operated under “Trifase” have been converted to direct current. Of the 18,000 kilometers of standard-gauge lines in Italy, around 11,000 kilometers are electrified today.

See also

literature

Web links

Commons : Railways in Italy  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Today: Pietrarsa-S.Giorgio a Cremano stop on the Naples-Salerno railway line .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Railway Atlas , p. VI.
  2. ↑ Railway Atlas , p. VI.
  3. ↑ Railway Atlas , p. VI.
  4. ↑ Railway Atlas , p. VI.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Italian railways . In: Brockhaus Konversations-Lexikon 1894–1896, Volume 9, pp. 776–779 (here page 779).
  6. ↑ Railway Atlas , p. VII.
  7. ↑ Railway Atlas , p. VII.
  8. ^ Meyers Konversationslexikon 1885-1892 online version, page 0432
  9. ↑ Railway Atlas , p. VII.
  10. ↑ Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (ed.): Official Journal of the Royal Prussian and Grand Ducal Hessian Railway Directorate in Mainz of June 24, 1905, No. 32. Announcement No. 347, p. 276f: Announcement of the transition of the Mediterranean Railway, the Sicilian Railway and part of the Adria-Bahn to the Italian state on July 1, 1905 (with a list of routes).
  11. ↑ Railway Atlas , p. VII.