Casalecchio – Vignola railway line
| Casalecchio – Vignola | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Course book series (IT) : | 442 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 24 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Casalecchio – Vignola railway was opened in 1882 and was the first extra-urban steam tram in the province of Bologna , which still connects the city center of Bologna with the city of Vignola in the province of Modena . Since its origins, it has been very important for both freight and passenger transportation. In particular, the route from Bologna to Casalecchio di Reno was extremely important for city traffic at the end of the 19th century.
Today the route is operated by the Ferrovie Emilia Romagna .
history
origin
The line was inaugurated on April 5, 1883 and the first stretch ran between Piazza Malpighi in downtown Bologna and the Meloncello (the gateway to the ten kilometer long arcade to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca ). Until June 5, 1883, the line to Casalecchio di Reno was extended. On December 9, 1883, the line reached Bazzano and the extension to Vignola could only be implemented on April 28, 1886, precisely because the Province of Modena refused to permit the construction of the tram. The most important freight station was Casalecchio Garibaldi, a crossing station between the Porrettana Railway and the Suburbana . This is where the freight for the many industrial plants in the area traveled by the railway was handled.
Early 20th century
The tram, until then the property of the Anonima Ferrotramviaria dell'Emilia company based in Bologna, was taken over by the private company Rotondi-Almagià and then in 1905 by the Belgian company Les Tramways de Bologne , which had operated the city's electric trams since 1904. On May 1, 1907, the Belgian company electrified the Bologna Piazza Malpighi – Casalecchio railway. The voltage was about 600 volts with the then strange use of electric drive cars .
Between the world wars
After the First World War , the municipality of Bologna acquired the entire line from the company Les Tramways de Bologne in order to expand the entire railway line between Vignola and Bologna in 1927 . Work on a new branch around the town of Casalecchio started in 1931 and a new station with new freight stores was inaugurated on October 28, 1938.
Second World War
During the Second World War , the railway to Vignola suffered great damage. On October 14, 1944, the Allies bombed the railway line and service had to be stopped. The breakthrough of the nearby Gothic position moved the German troops to undermine the tracks while all of the rolling stock was brought to Germany . Many citizens used the railway's wooden sleepers for heating, especially in the winter of 1944/1945. The Allies, who besieged the area on April 20, 1945, confiscated the entire railway line.
post war period
In August 1946 it was decided to rebuild, but there was no agreement on how to do it. The mayor of Bologna, Giuseppe Dozza, insisted that the tram network from the city to Bazzano had to be repaired in order to increase passenger traffic. The industrial area also demanded freight transport again. The vehicles towed to Germany had not yet returned. The line between Casalecchio di Reno and Savignano sul Panaro was not restored until October 1950. During the period of reconstruction, a bus route connected Bologna with Vignola. Finally, in 1955, the bridge on the Panaro was rebuilt and the trains were able to reach Vignola again. In the 1960s, the line between Bologna Piazza Malpighi and Casalecchio was discontinued. Only after many years in which freight wagons were only sporadically transferred did the actual reconstruction begin in the 1990s. Today, trains are again running according to schedule between Vignola and Bologna Central Station. From the main train station to the newly built Casalecchio Garibaldi junction station, the Porrettana line of the state railway will be used. In the medium term, this route is to be integrated into a suburban railway system around Bologna.
literature
- Vanna Zanini: Riapre la Casalecchio – Vignola. In: I Treni No. 253 (November 2003), pp. 16-23.
