Turin–Milan railway

Turin–Milan railway
Turin–Milan railway
	The railway near Novara
Overview
Native name	Ferrovia Torino-Milano
Status	in use
Owner	RFI
Locale	Italy
Termini	Turin; Milan;
Stations	18 station, 8 stops
Service
Type	heavy rail
Services	S6
Operator(s)	Trenitalia, Trenord
History
Opened	1 July 1859
Technical
Line length	153 km (95 mi)
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3 KV DC
Operating speed	160 km/h (99 mph)
Route map
	from Genoa, Fossano and Chieri
	from Pinerolo – Torre Pellice
	1.092
	0.000
	Torino Dora (under reconstruction)
	to Ceres
	14.062
	14.014
	Settimo Torinese junction
	from Turin Passante
	Torino-Settimo Torinese
	interurban tramway (1884–1954)
	Castelrosso junction
	(to Alessandria)
	Vercelli–Trino (closed 1949), V–Aranco
	(c. 1933) and V–Biella (c. 1933) interurbans
	Vercelli-Biandrate-Fara
	interurban tramway
	from Varallo, Domodossola,
	Arona and Pino
	Novara Boschetto
	link to Turin–Milan (HS)
	Novara–Vigevano–Ottobiano
	interurban tramway
	Novara–Vigevano–Ottobiano
	interurban tramway
	Piedmont
	Lombardy
	Corbetta-Santo Stefano Ticino
	(opened 1936)[1]
	Milano–Castano Primo
	interurban tramway
	Pregnana Milanese
	(opened 2009)[2][3]
	134.571
	16.348
	opened 1963 (surface)
	opened 1997 (underground)
	to Voghera, Venice, Bologna,
	Bologna (HS) and belt railway
	Source: Italian railway atlas[4]

The Turin–Milan railway is a major Italian railway that links the cities of Turin and Milan. The railway is double track, standard gauge and fully electrified at 3 kV DC. It connects the cities of Settimo Torinese, Chivasso, Santhià, Vercelli, Novara, Magenta and Rho. Since February 2006 high-speed trains have operated over the Turin–Milan high-speed line between Turin and Novara. The remainder of the high-speed line between Novara and Milan was opened in December 2009, when the Bologna–Florence high-speed line and the remaining sections of the Rome–Naples high-speed railway line and the Naples–Salerno high-speed line are opened, completing the high-speed network between Turin and Salerno.

History

Construction and opening

The line was built by Thomas Brassey under contract to the Società Vittorio Emanuele ("Victor Emmanuel Company", named in honour of Victor Emmanuel II, then king of Piedmont and Sardinia) and opened between Turin and Novara on 20 October 1856 and extended to the Ticino river—which formed the boundary between Piedmont and the Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia (then part of the Austrian Empire)—on 18 October 1858. The bridge over the river connecting to the existing railway from Milan at Magenta was opened on 1 June 1859.

Three days later the French-Sardinian army led by Napoleon III defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Magenta with the help of supplies brought by the new railway. This was a major step in the unification of Italy.[5]

The line formed part of the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (Upper Italian Railways) from 1865 and the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo (Mediterranean Railway Company) from 1885.

In the twentieth century

An intercity at Ponzana

Following the nationalisation of the railways, the line was incorporated into the state network and its operation was taken over by Ferrovie dello Stato between 1905 and 1906.

The line was severely damaged during the Second World War. In 1951, it was restored to operation, albeit temporarily, in some parts.

The main line from Novara to Rho was electrified from the timetable change in May 1960.[6] The missing section from Turin to Novara was electrified the following year and inaugurated on 4 June in the presence of the Minister of Transport Giuseppe Spataro,[7] on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the unification of Italy.[8]

At the beginning of the 2000s, the management of the line passed to Rete Ferroviaria Italiana.

Features

The line is double-track, electrified at 3,000 volts DC and standard-gauge with a length of 153 kilometres (95 mi). Its infrastructure manager, RFI classifies it as a "fundamental line".[9]

The line has five junction stations, Settimo, Chivasso, Santhià, Vercelli and Novara. Lines branch off as follows: from Settimo to Pont Canavese; from Chivasso to Ivrea/Aosta, Asti and Alessandria; from Santhià to Arona and Biella; from Vercelli to Casale and Pavia; and from Novara to Biella, Alessandria/Arona, Domodossola and Varallo Sesia. The railway line is paralleled by the Turin–Milan high-speed railway, which crosses it several times during its journey, with connections at several points, including at: Torino Stura, Settimo, Bianzè, Novara and Rho Fiera. Trains can reach a top speed of 160 km/h on most of the line and between Magenta and Pregnana Milanese the speed limit is 180 km/h.[10]

Operations

The line is used by freight and passenger trains of various categories, which are operated by various companies.

Trenitalia operates the following services each day:

twenty pairs of fast regional trains between Turin and Milan;
regional trains on the Novara/Vercelli–Chivasso–Turin/Ivrea route;
a pair of InterCity services between Turin and Milan;
two pairs of InterCity Night services between Turin and Reggio Calabria.

In addition six TGV services a day are operated on the Milan–Turin–Paris route;

The Novara–Milan section is also used by line S6 of the Milan suburban railway service, operated by Trenord, while the Chivasso–Turin section is used by line 2 of the Turin metropolitan railway service, operated by Trenitalia.

References

Ferrovie dello Stato, Service order no. 25, 1936
RFI S.p.A. Departmental Circular MI 19/2009. p. 2.
"Impianti FS". I Treni (in Italian) (317): 6. July 2009.
Atlante ferroviario s'Italia e Slovenia [Italian and Slovenian railway atlas)] (1 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2010. pp. 19–21, 31, 120, 124, 130–33. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1.
Kalla-Bishop, P. M. (1971). Italian Railways. Newton Abbott, Devon, England: David & Charles. p. 26.
Leppo, Ettore (June 1960). "Giugno T.E.". Voci della Rotaia (in Italian). III (6): 6.
Marello, Renzo (June 1961). "T.E. sulla Milano-Torino. 3000 Volt sulla Modane-Alessandria". Voci della Rotaia (in Italian). IV (6): 3.
Ballatore, Luigi (2002). Storia delle ferrovie in Piemonte (in German). Il Punto. pp. 55–61.
"La rete oggi in: Piemonte" (in Italian). www.rfi.it. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
"RFI, Fascicolo Linea 22" (in Italian). RFI.

External links

Media related to Turin–Milan railway at Wikimedia Commons

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[1] Ferrovie dello Stato, Service order no. 25, 1936

[2] RFI S.p.A. Departmental Circular MI 19/2009. p. 2.

[3] "Impianti FS". I Treni (in Italian) (317): 6. July 2009.

[Eisenbahnatlas-4] Atlante ferroviario s'Italia e Slovenia [Italian and Slovenian railway atlas)] (1 ed.). Schweers + Wall. 2010. pp. 19–21, 31, 120, 124, 130–33. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1.

[5] Kalla-Bishop, P. M. (1971). Italian Railways. Newton Abbott, Devon, England: David & Charles. p. 26.

[6] Leppo, Ettore (June 1960). "Giugno T.E.". Voci della Rotaia (in Italian). III (6): 6.

[7] Marello, Renzo (June 1961). "T.E. sulla Milano-Torino. 3000 Volt sulla Modane-Alessandria". Voci della Rotaia (in Italian). IV (6): 3.

[Storia_delle_Ferrovie_in_Piemonte-8] Ballatore, Luigi (2002). Storia delle ferrovie in Piemonte (in German). Il Punto. pp. 55–61.

[9] "La rete oggi in: Piemonte" (in Italian). www.rfi.it. Retrieved 7 August 2018.

[10] "RFI, Fascicolo Linea 22" (in Italian). RFI.