Pistoia – Bologna railway line

Bologna – Pistoia
Route number (RFI) :	83
Course book series (IT) :	255
Route length:	99 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Power system :	3 kV  =
Maximum slope :	20  ‰
Legend Bologna Central 45 m Route to Milan 126.905 Bologna Borgo Panigale (until 2001 train station) 46 m 125.325 Casteldebole (since 2002) 123.106 Casalecchio Garibaldi (wedge station, since 2002) FER route to Vignola 122.077 Casalecchio di Reno (until 2002 train station) 70 m 118,547 Borgonuovo 116.221 Pontecchio Marconi 91 m 112.818 Sasso Marconi 107 m 107.911 Lama di Reno (since 1948) 114 m 105.289 Marzabotto 129 m 103.107 Pian di Venola (since 2004) 99.071 Pioppe di Salvaro 163 m 93.432 Vergato 194 m 89.078 Carbona (since 1949) 222 m Riola (1834 m) 85.032 Riola 252 m Pian di Casale (2622 m) 75.855 Silla 330 m 73.367 Porretta Terme 352 m 69.890 Ponte della Venturina (since 1909) 396 m 65.714 Molino del Pallone 495 m 63.668 Biagioni-Lagacci 506 m 58,596 Pracchia until 1965 transition to FAP 616 m Appennino (2727 m) 55,441 San Mommè (since 1935) 544 m 53,440 Castagno (since 1960) 493 m Signorino (1073 m) 51.077 Corbezzi 418 m 45.096 Piteccio 291 m 38,801 Valdibrana approx. 140 m 35,330 Pistoia Ovest Route from Viareggio 33,573 Pistoia 63 m Route to Florence

The Pistoia – Bologna line is a former main line in Italy . The route, also known as Porrettana , was inaugurated by Victor Emmanuel II in 1864 and was the first connection between northern and central Italy to cross the Apennines . It was designed as Strada Ferrata dell'Italia Centrale in 1851 .

At that time it was an important technical project with 47 tunnels , 35 bridges and viaducts and a total length of 99 km. The most difficult section to build was the connection between Pracchia and Pistoia , on which a gradient of 500 meters had to be overcome over a distance of 14 kilometers. The work was supervised by the French engineer Jean-Louis Protche ; In doing so, he solved the problem with the construction of the spiral tunnel on the route between Piteccio and Corbezzi , as was later used, for example, for the construction of the Gotthard Railway . In Porretta Terme there is still a square dedicated to the engineer and Viktor Emmanuel II.

history

Work on the Porrettana Railway in 1863. Engineer Jean-Louis Protche on the left

In the mid-19th century, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany had a rail network with a total length of 225 km: the Leopoldabahn ( Florence - Pisa - Livorno ); the Maria Antonia Railway Florence - Prato - Pistoia , the railway line Pisa - Lucca and the Strada Ferrata Centrale Toscana between Empoli and Siena . During this time, the construction of the line between Lucca and Pistoia began, and the first drafts for the connections between Florence and Bologna through the Apennines were submitted, in order to create an important railway line between northern and southern Italy.

In 1845, engineer Cini from San Marcello Pistoiese and engineer Ciardi from Prato presented the two plans to cross the Apennines. The line from Cini began in Pistoia and ran up the valley of the Ombrone Pistoiese creek to San Felice with an incline of 20 ‰ . From here the train climbed the Apennine ridge over a 16 km long route with numerous serpentines and a gradient between 25 and 12 per thousand over the mountains to Pracchia . A tunnel 2800 meters long was also shown in the plan. From Pracchia to Bologna the train had to run along the Reno River. The railway line was rather winding, but Cini was primarily interested in the economic development of Pistoia.

Ciardi proposed another project with the aim of making it as cheap and fast as possible for freight and passenger transport. For example, this route had to be as little steep as possible and as short as possible. Ciardi was the first to propose the project over the Bisenzio -, the Setta - and the Reno valley, which had gradients of more than 12%, but was a total of 14 km shorter than the Porrettana Railway.

The prospect of a decision sparked a heated argument between the cities. A committee was formed in Prato to support the Bisenzio project proposal. In Pistoia, Cini encouraged the creation of a company. The decisive factor, however, was Austria's military interest , which was specifically looking for a quick connection between the strategic port of Livorno and Pistoia. Austria therefore preferred the Porrettana Railway and put pressure on Leopold II , the Grand Duke of Tuscany, to opt for the Pistoia option.

On 18 May 1846, the governments of the Austrian Empire, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the duchies signed Parma and Modena and the Papal States for an international agreement for the construction of the " Italian Central Railway " between Piacenza and Pistoia with a turn-off to Mantua who are existing with already Railway lines in Lombardy and Veneto would connect. An extension to Rome was also planned . The contract for the Porrettana was concluded in Modena on January 26, 1852, Cini could not co-sign it because he had died the day before.

In 1856, after years of work, the line was transferred to an international corporation under the direction of the French engineer Jean-Louis Protche (1818–1886), who solved the problem of the possibility of intersections in the curve with a 2927 meter long tunnel (Galleria Appennino), which often happened is still cited today as an example of a technical masterpiece.

For seventy years, until the opening of the Bologna – Florence line in 1934, the Porrettana Railway was one of the most important arteries in Italy . At the time, it was a technical masterpiece that made it possible to cover the distance between Bologna and Florence (131 km) in five hours, compared to 14 hours with the stagecoach. The total cost turned out to be higher than that for the Fréjus tunnel .

Opening dates

• Bologna - Vergato , 39 km, August 18, 1862
• Vergato - Pracchia , 35 km, December 1, 1863
• Pracchia - Pistoia , 25 km, November 2, 1864

When the entire railway line was opened (1864), Austria had lost its supremacy in Italy for four years, which is why the original military purposes were no longer there. The many obstacles the railway line had in passenger and freight traffic became clear. The railway line between Pistoia and Pracchia in particular had a performance level of 27 daily train pairs. This means that even if the best mountain locomotive could cover the distance between Florence and Bologna in 3 hours, the railway line could withstand a maximum load of only 3,000 tons per day, inadequate for the economic development of Italy in the second half of the 19th century. In 1864 only two pairs of trains ran daily and local trains could not run here for a long time because of the many transit trains, nor could tourist trips develop.

The entire route from Bologna to Pistoia was single-track and the first locomotives reached a speed of 20 km / h.

The Porrettana Railway handled the greatest traffic in the First World War , when 70 pairs of trains ran around the clock. Engine drivers on horses were stationed at the tunnel portals in order to be able to replace their colleagues if necessary, who almost suffocated from the smoke while driving through the tunnel. In 1927 the line was electrified with three-phase current and the series E.550 , E.431 , E.432 and E.554 were used. The Faenza – Florence line was opened as early as 1890 to relieve the Porrettana line. Finally, on April 22, 1934, the Bologna – Florence line , whose work had started in 1913 and had been interrupted due to the war, was opened. The Direttissima was electrified with direct current and the Porrettana was adapted to it by 1935.

This made the Porrettana Railway a local railway , on which today (2012) there is an hourly service between Porretta Terme and Bologna and a two-hour service between Porretta Terme and Pistoia. There is no longer any freight transport. Their raison d'être are the commuters who drive from the Reno Valley to Bologna.

credentials

1. ^ Impianti FS. In: I Treni No. 234 (February 2002), pp. 5-6.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Impianti FS. In: I Treni No. 246 (March 2003), p. 8.
3. ↑ Ordine di Servizio No. 4 - 1948
4. ^ Impianti FS. In: I Treni No. 267 (February 2005), pp. 6-7.
5. ↑ Ordine di Servizio No. 20 - 1949
6. ↑ Ordine di Servizio No. 195 - 1909
7. ^ Nico Molino: Trifase in Italia 1925-1976 . Gulliver, Torino 1991, ISBN 88-85361-12-9