Novara–Varallo railway

The Novara–Varallo railway is a regional railway line of Piedmont in Italy, that connect Varallo to Novara railway node, crossing the countries of Valsesia. From 2015 is used only as a tourist railway[2] and for freight service in the tract Novara-Romagnano Sesia.[3]

Novara–Varallo railway
The trip on the historic train, near Borgosesia
Overview
Status	in use
Owner	RFI
Locale	Piedmont, Italy
Termini	Novara Varallo Sesia
Stations	3 station 7 stops
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	Trenitalia
History
Opened	April 12, 1886
Technical
Line length	54 km (34 mi)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3000 V CC from Novara to Vignale
Operating speed	90–120 km/h (56–75 mph)
Route map km elev from Alessandria from Milan 65.028 Novara since 1854 151 m 0.000 65.368 to Biella and Turin Turin–Milan high-speed railway Milan-Turin Autostrada 3.275 Vignale since 1855 160 m to Domodossola and Arona Agogna stream San Bernardino † 2003 178 m 16.077 Briona 197 m 18.204 Fara 208 m 21.332 Sizzano 225 m 24.141 Ghemme 241 m Genoa-Gravellona Toce Autostrada from Arona 29.004 Romagnano Sesia 266 m to Santhià Sesia river 31.207 Prato Sesia 278 m 32.216 Grignasco 322 m to Coggiola Grignasco tunnel Bettole Valduggia † 2003 343 m 41.812 Borgosesia 359 m Borgosesia tunnel Vanzone-Isolella 386 m 47.736 Quarona 405 m Roccapietra † 2003 424 m tunnel 54.095 Varallo Sesia 452 m km Source: Italian railway atlas[1]

The tourist service is performed by historic trains of Fondazione FS, operated by Trenitalia, on specific dates. Regular passenger service was suspended from 15 September 2014, by decision of the Piedmont Region.[4]

History

The railway was opened from 1883 to 1886.[5]

Tract	Inauguration [5]
Novara–Vignale	14 June 1855[6]
Vignale–Romagnano Sesia	22 February 1883
Romagnano Sesia–Grignasco	6 November 1884
Grignasco–Borgosesia	6 November 1885
Borgosesia–Varallo	12 April 1886

See also

• List of railway lines in Italy

References

Footnotes

1. Railway Atlas 2017, pp. 20, 124.
2. "La Novara-Varallo riapre ma sulla linea: viaggeranno soltanto i treni dei turisti". La Stampa.
3. "La Novara-Varallo salvata dai treni merci, ma i passeggeri restano a terra". La Stampa.
4. "Addio alla linea Novara-Varallo". La Stampa.
5. "Prospetto cronologico dei tratti di ferrovia aperti all'esercizio dal 1839 al 31 dicembre 1926".
6. Part of Arona–Novara railway.

Sources

• RFI, ed. (December 2003). Fascicolo Linea 14 (Novara–Varallo) (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana.
• Atlante ferroviario d'Italia e Slovenia [Railway atlas of Italy and Slovenia]. Schweers + Wall. 2010. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1.