Parma–La Spezia railway

Parma–La Spezia railway
Overview
Native name	Ferrovia Pontremolese
Owner	RFI
Line number	99, 100
Locale	Italy
Termini	Parma La Spezia Centrale
Service
Operator(s)	Trenitalia
History
Opened	1883
Technical
Line length	113 km (70 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3000 V DC
Route map Legend km elev from Brescia from Suzzara (FER) from Bologna 0.000 Parma 59 m to Milan (end of double track) 7.304 Vicofertile 86 m 11.771 Collecchio 111 m 16.540 Gaiano 120 m 19.180 Ozzano Taro 129 m from Fidenza 23.019 Fornovo 143 m A15 - E33 25.683 P.P. Osteriazza (start of double track, opened in 2014) 31.878 P.C. Citerna Taro (crossover) 203 m deviation opened in 2014 (34.395) Selva del Bocchetto (closed in 2014) 221 m Marta Giulia tunnel (4185 m) Taro (34.989) Solignano tunnel (1889–2014) (1572 m) (36.561) 36.917 Solignano 233 m deviation opened in 1996[1] 42.132 Ossella tunnel (1381 m) (42.xxx) Valmozzola (closed in 1996) 265 m 43.513 Taro 45.104 Berceto end of double track 289 m 45.806 Groppo San Giovanni tunnel (2489 m) 48.295 50.570 Roccamurata 331 m 53.496 Ostia Parmense 352 m 54.942 Maccagnana tunnel (2275 m) 57.217 57.798 Martini tunnel (1370 m) 59.168 60.648 Borgo Val di Taro (start of double track) 412 m 61.088 Borgallo tunnel (7972 m) Emilia-Romagna Tuscany border 69.040 69.315 P.M. Grondola-Guinadi 426 m 74.503 Scorano tunnel (1028 m) 75.531 78.578 Pontremoli (end of double track) 233 m 82.675 Scorcetoli 196 m 85.185 Filattiera 164 m 89.615 Villafranca-Bagnone 130 m deviation opened in 2005 94.307 P.P. Chiesaccia (start of double track, opened in 2005) Terrarossa-Tresana (closed in 2005) 98.588 Aulla Lunigiana (opened in 2005) (x.xxx) Aulla (closed in 2008) to Lucca 100.217 Serena tunnel (7014 m) Caprigliola-Albiano (closed in 2003[2]) 106 m Tuscany Liguria border 107.231 deviation opened in 2005 107.623 0.288 Santo Stefano di Magra from Pisa (2.555) Ponzano Magra (line and station unused since 2003[3]) (6.800) Sarzana A12 Magra Romito Arcola 1.774 162.660 P.C. Arcola (junction/crossover) 111.866 4.590/164.896 Vezzano Ligure 167.500 Cà di Boschetti 3.345 0.000 La Spezia Marittima 0.000/169.661   La Spezia Migliarina 171.549 La Spezia marshalling yard 172.462 La Spezia Centrale to Genoa km Source: Italian railway atlas[4] This diagram: view talk edit

The Parma–La Spezia railway is the railway line that connects Parma, Italy with the Genoa–Pisa railway near La Spezia over the Cisa Pass through the Apennines. The route is approximately 120 kilometres long. Its Italian name (ferrovia Pontremolese) derives from the town of Pontremoli, one of the main towns it passes through.

The railway infrastructure is managed by the Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, which classifies it as one of its primary lines.^[5]

The first plans for a railway linking the middle Po valley with the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian coasts began to be considered in 1860, when the Kingdom of Sardinia acquired Lombardy, Emilia and Tuscany.

In particular, consideration was given to a line connecting the La Spezia Naval Base with the stronghold of Piacenza (in preparation for a possible war to liberate the Veneto from the Austrian Empire) between two existing trans-Apennine lines, the line under the Giovi Pass north of Genoa and the Porrettana Railway between Bologna and Florence.

Two routes were mainly considered: one between Parma and the Gulf of La Spezia passing through the Taro and Magra valleys, the other from Lucca to Reggio Emilia and Modena. This second solution was preferred by the Livorno authorities, as it would have promoted trade through the town's port at the expense of the Ligurian sea ports.

Under a decree issued on 17 July 1860, the government headed by Cavour, appointed a commission to examine the proposals for the construction of the line. In the meantime, numerous projects for the construction of the line were prepared and presented by private individuals. The commission set out its conclusions in a report dated 16 June 1862 (but published in 1863), which established that a line between Piacenza and La Spezia was indeed of strategic interest, and that the shortest and easiest route was the one that passed through the Taro and Magra valleys, crossing the Apennines through the Borgallo tunnel.

Work on the construction of the line, financed by the Baccarini law,^[8] began in 1879, and the whole line was completed in 1894. Three years later a link was built from Santo Stefano di Magra to Sarzana to facilitate traffic.^[6]

Almost entirely single track, the line was immediately equipped with a second track through the pass section, where the line runs through the most difficult country. The section comprising the pass tunnel (Borgallo tunnel, 7,972 metres-long) and the steep section between Grondola-Guinadi and Pontremoli (with grades of 2.0% in the tunnel and 2.5% in the open sections) were immediately doubled.

In 1931, the line was electrified with the three-phase AC system at 3600 V and 16.67 Hz; during the Second World War it suffered heavy damage, due to its high strategic value as an access route to the Po Valley. The gradual conversion of the line to 3000 V DC electrification, which had already started in 1937, was completed in late 1949, following the electrification of the Milan–Bologna railway, which made it worthwhile to electrify the neighbouring lines including the Parma–Fornovo and Fornovo–Fidenza lines on the same system.^[9]

The line, which was originally built as single track except for the Borgo Val di Taro–Pontremoli section, has been undergoing duplication since the 1980s with the construction of track at new locations with better grades and geometry.

The line modernisation project dates back to a financial appropriation under the Piano integrativo ("integration plan") of 1981.

By 1996, duplication had been completed only on the section from Vezzano Ligure to Santo Stefano di Magra.

On 22 May 1996, the double track deviation between Solignano and Berceto was opened, almost entirely in tunnel. The opening of the new line involved the closure of Valmozzola station.^[1]

The new La Spezia Marittima freight yard was opened in 2003.

On 11 September 2005, the double track on the Santo Stefano di Magra–Chiesaccia crossing loop^[10] section, connecting with the Lucca–Aulla railway, was opened in 2008.^[11]

This work also involved moving the southern link with the Tyrrhenian line northwards, leading to the closure to traffic of the single track section between Santo Stefano di Magra and Sarzana opened on 9 August 1897,^[6] including Ponzano Magra station. Consequently, Sarzana has not been a terminus of the line since the early 2000s. The double track junction is now located near Arcola station. The northern link, originally located near Vezzano Ligure station has been moved north as a result of the addition of a track dedicated to the Parma–La Spezia traffic, which runs parallel to the Genoa–Pisa railway from Vezzano Ligure to La Spezia Migliarina.

Work was completed on doubling the Solignano–Fornovo section in 2014.^[12]

As of 2011, final planning was underway for the doubling of the remaining sections:^[12]

• Berceto–Chiesaccia, with the completion of the link with the Lucca–Aulla railway, part of which had already started with the doubling of earlier years;
• Osteriazza–Parma.

Under a decree of 5 July 2020, funds of €78 million have been allocated, which will be followed by a second tranche of an additional €92 million, totalling €170 million, to finance the upgrade of the line and completion of the doubling of the Parma–Vicofertile section by 2032.^[13][14]

Designed from the outset to facilitate the movement of goods between the ports of the upper Tyrrhenian Sea and Northern Italy (the so-called Tyrrhenian–Brenner corridor), it is still used for this purpose.

Passenger traffic, on the other hand, consists solely of regional trains and is largely limited to commuter traffic from the two valleys to the nearby capitals; however, there are some pairs of longer-distance trains that connect the main cities of the Ligurian and Tyrrhenian coast with some important centres in Emilia and Lombardy, passing through the Fidenza hub.

The movement of trains on the whole line is controlled from the signalling centre in Pisa.

All passenger trains on the line stop at Fornovo, Borgo val di Taro, Pontremoli, Villafranca-Bagnone, Aulla Lunigiana and Santo Stefano di Magra stations.

• Carboncini, Adriano Betti (July–August 1988). "Nuova vita per la Pontremolese (part 1)". I Treni Oggi (in Italian) (84).
• Carboncini, Adriano Betti (September 1988). "Nuova vita per la Pontremolese (part 2)". I Treni Oggi (in Italian) (85).
• Carboncini, Adriano Betti (1994). La Spezia e la Pontremolese. Ferrovia Parma La Spezia (in Italian). Cortona: Calosci. ISBN 88-7785-090-6.
• Morando, Ennio (2002). Ricordi di rotaie. Nodi, linee, costruzioni e soppressioni in Italia dal 1839 ai giorni nostri. Volume secondo nodi principali & nodi complementari (in Italian). Padova: Il Prato. ISBN 88-87243-43-3.
• Passarelli, Pasquale (2001). Liguria (in Italian). Istituto Enciclopedico Italiano s.r.l. ISBN 88-87983-11-9.
• RFI, ed. (December 2003). Fascicolo Linea 99 (Genova-La Spezia) e 100 (Vezzano-Parma) (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana.
• La Spezia-Parma la ferrovia tra il Mediterraneo e l'Europa (in Italian). Ameglia: Zolesi. 1991. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
• Atti parlamentari dello Senato (in Italian). Vol. 9. Parlamento Italiano. 1913.
• Atlante ferroviario d'Italia e Slovenia [Railway atlas of Italy and Slovenia]. Schweers + Wall. 2010. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1.