Alessandria–Novara–Arona railway

The Alessandria–Novara–Arona railway is a railway line in Italy that connects Alessandria to Arona on Lake Maggiore, passing through Novara.

Alessandria–Novara–Arona railway
Overview
Status	in use
Owner	RFI
Locale	Lombardy and Piedmont, Italy
Termini	Novara Alessandria
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	Trenitalia, Trenord
History
Opened	1854
Technical
Line length	67 km (42 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3 kV DC
Operating speed	135 km/h (84 mph)
Route map from Genoa and Piacenza from Ovada from Savona and Cavallermaggiore 90.075 Alessandria 96 m a.s.l. 89.420 Tanaro river 88.522 0.000 to Turin A21 - E70 6.572 Valmadonna 117 m a.s.l. 7.377 Valenza tunnel (2330 m) 9.707 12.392 Valenza (Valenza Tramway) 112 m a.s.l. to Vercelli Bozzole-Monte (closed) 98 m a.s.l. Po river ( Piedmont Lombardy ) 18.618 Torreberetti 94 m a.s.l. to Pavia 24.449 Sartirana 99 m a.s.l. 28.940 Valle Lomellina 100 m a.s.l. Agogna torrent 36.074 Olevano 104 m a.s.l. from Pavia / from Asti 40.793 Mortara 108 m a.s.l. to Milan / to Vercelli 46.138 Albonese 116 m a.s.l. ( Lombardy Piedmont ) 48.616 Borgo Lavezzaro 118 m a.s.l. 52.996 Vespolate 124 m a.s.l. 56.810 Garbagna 131 m a.s.l. from Milan 65.028 Novara Novara Boschetto 151 m a.s.l. Novara Nord Novara FNM (old) 65.368 to Turin and Biella from Saronno Turin–Milan (HS) A4 – E64 Cavour Canal 68.303 Vignale end of double track 160 m a.s.l. to Varallo and Domodossola Terdoppio torrent 76.871 Cameri crossing loop 78.121 Bellinzago 216 m a.s.l. 81.616 Oleggio 235 m a.s.l. to Pino 85.151 Marano Ticino 258 m a.s.l. 89.687 Varallo Pombia 292 m a.s.l. 92.540 Borgo Ticino 270 m a.s.l. A8/A26 – E62 from Santhià 97.515 Dormelletto Paese opened in 1935 227 m a.s.l. deviation opened in 1905 from Milan 100.769 Arona (opened in 1905 205 m a.s.l. Arona (old) to Domodossola

The management of the infrastructure is the responsibility of RFI SpA, a subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato, which classifies the line as complementary.[1]

History

Section	Opening[2]
Alessandria-Mortara	5 June 1854
Mortara-Novara	3 July 1854
Novara-Arona	14 June 1855

A project involving the building of a railway between Alessandria, Novara and Lake Maggiore was conceived in the period of maximum enthusiasm for construction by the Kingdom of Sardinia which under the Cavour Government had quickly built the Turin–Genoa and Turin–Cuneo railways. The line itself was conceived as a long branch of the Turin–Genoa line in order to improve the connections between Genoa and Switzerland in competition with river traffic on the Ticino.[3]

The Royal Licenses of 1845, which laid the foundations for the construction of the railways of the Sardinian States, authorised the construction of a line that branched off from Alessandria station to reach the shore of Lake Maggiore. Work began under the jurisdiction of the state company in the late 1840s and proceeded slowly, as Piedmont waited a long time for a response from the Swiss cantons in regard to the construction of a tunnel under the Lukmanier Pass. Future decisions on the establishment of the railway to the port of Arona or on an alternative link to Locarno depended on it. In 1853, in the absence of certainty about the development of the Swiss network, it was decided to end the line at Arona and to organise ferries to Locarno.[4]

Railway bridge over the Po near Valenza

The first section opened between Alessandria railway station and Mortara on 5 June 1854. Novara was reached the following month (3 July), while the rest of the line to the old station on the lake at Arona was opened on 14 June 1855.[2]

The Alessandria–Arona section was inaugurated on the following Sunday, 17 June, in the presence of Cavour, Rattazzi, Durando and Paleocapa. Vittorio Emanuele II, who was mourning the death of his youngest son, was represented by the Prince of Carignano. On that day, the waters of the full lake lapped the railway.[5]

In 1859, for the first time in history, a railway was used for military operations: the Alessandria–Novara line was used for the speedy transport of Piedmontese troops between Casale and Novara, surprising the Austrian troops at the Battle of Magenta.[6]

Under the law of 14 May 1865, no. 2279, the ownership of the lines of the Ferrovie dello Stato Piemontese (Piedmontese State Railways), including the Arona–Alessandria railway was sold to the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (SFAI) of the Südbahn (Southern Railway) group.[7] Ten years later, with the redemption of the SFAI property under the Basel Agreement, the infrastructure returned to the Italian state, while its operation was temporarily assigned to the private railway company.[8] The Conventions of 1885 resolved the provisional situation by incorporating the state lines west of Milan in the Rete Mediterranea, under a sixty-year concession to the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo.[9]

Following the nationalisation of the railways in 1905, the line was then operated by Ferrovie dello Stato. The doubling of the track between Mortara and Novara was completed on 2 April 1909.[10]

Electrification at 3 kV AC was activated on 2 May 1960.[11] The electrification of the line, part of the route from Switzerland to the Port of Genoa, was carried out under an Italo-Swiss convention for improving international lines agreed in 1955.[12]

Features

The line is single track on the section between Arona and Vignale and double track between the latter and Alessandria. The line is 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge.

The line is electrified at 3,000 volts DC.

Operations

From the point of view of the passenger service, the line is separated into two sections, both of which are operated by regional services: Arona–Novara and Novara–Alessandria.

See also

• List of railway lines in Italy

References

Footnotes

1. "Rete in esercizio" (PDF) (in Italian). RFI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
2. Sviluppo delle ferrovie italiane dal 1839 al 31 dicembre 1926 (in Italian). Roma: Ufficio Centrale di Statistica delle Ferrovie dello Stato. 1927., see Tuzza, Alessandro (1997–2007). "Trenidicarta.it" (in Italian). Retrieved 6 August 2018.
3. Maggi 2007, pp. 33-34.
4. Zaninelli 1995, pp. 6-7 and 29.
5. Comandini, Alfredo (1907–1918). L'italia nei cento anni del secolo XIX (in Italian). III: 1850-1860. Milan: Antonio Vallardi.
6. Montanelli, Indro; Cervi, Mario (1981). Due secoli di guerre (in Italian). 3. Milan: Editoriale Nuova. p. 149.
7. Maggi 2007, p. 119.
8. Maggi 2007, pp. 122–123.
9. Maggi 2007, pp. 124–125.
10. Ferrovie dello Stato, Service order no. 87 of 1909
11. Dard, Michele (July–August 1960). "Potenziate le linee al confine elvetico". Voci della Rotaia (in Italian). III (7–8): 4.
12. Marello, Renzo (July–August 1960). "T.E. dalla Svizzera al mare". Voci della Rotaia (in Italian). III (7–8): 3.

Sources

• Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. Fascicolo linea 13
• Maggi, Stefano (2007). Le ferrovie (in Italian) (2 ed.). Bologna: Il Mulino. ISBN 978-88-15-12391-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Zaninelli, Sergio (1995). Le ferrovie in Lombardia tra Ottocento e Novecento (in Italian). Milano: Edizioni Il Polifilo. ISBN 88-7050-195-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Fascicolo Linea 13 (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. pp. 43–56 and 101–114.
• Ballatore, Luigi (1996). Storia delle ferrovie in Piemonte. Dalle origini alla vigilia della seconda guerra mondiale (in Italian). Torino: Il punto. ISBN 88-86425-26-0.