Railways in
Italy
The first public railway in the states that would later unite to
form Italy was between Naples and Portici in the Kingdom of the Two
Sicilies. It was built to standard gauge (1435mm) and opened on 3rd
October, 1839.
The Kingdom of Italy came into being in 1860, and was
progressively enlarged to become the country we know today. Each of
the constituent states contributed their own railway systems, the
greater part of which ultimately came to form the State railway
company, Ferrovia dello Stato (FS).
Separate infrastructure and operating companies have now been formed,
but both remain subsidiaries of FS. Trenitalia, the operating arm of the
State company FS, remains the major main line operator for both passenger
and freight. For passenger services, number of long-standing private
operators continue to exist, and new regional operators are appearing.
Various independent freight operators are also entering the market.
Mainland Italy
National Network
- FS
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, the national network
- Trenitalia
passenger and freight operating arm of FS
- Italo
independent high speed passenger operator
- RFI infrastructure
arm of FS
- DB Schenker
independent freight operator
- Fret SNCF
independent freight operator
- Rail
Traction Company independent freight operator (Site in
Italian)
Regional Operators
- Circumvesuviana a network of lines in the Naples
area (Site in Italian)
- Ferrovie della Calabria several lines, including
a steam hauled tourist service and a funicular, in the “toe” of Italy
(Site in Italian)
- Südtirol Bahn /
Treno Alto Adige regional network in Alto Adige (South Tyrol)
including some through services to Innsbruck, Austria
- Trenord an
extensive network to the north of Milan, with a separate line in
the Brescia area (Site in Italian)
- Malpensa
Express linking central Milan with Malpensa International
Airport
Tourist and Local Railways
- Centovalli Line
metre gauge electric line between Domodossola and Locarno (Switzerland).
The Lago
Maggiore Express offers a trip on the Centovalli line and a cruise
on Lake Maggiore, returning to the starting point by Trenitalia
- FGC
metre gauge electric suburban and tourist railway running for some 25km
from Genoa to Casella (Site in Italian)
- Mendelbahn / Funicolare della Mendola
funicular ascending from Sankt Anton in Kaltern / Sant’Antonio to the
Mendel / Mendola pass (No website located at present)
- Montevergine
near Avellino. A funicular links the monastery and sanctuary with the town
of Mercogliano (Site in Italian)
- Rittnerbahn / Ferrovia del Renon historic electric rural
tramway between Klobenstein / Collalbo and Maria Himmelfahrt (near
Oberbozen / Soprabolzano), about 7km on the Ritten / Renon plateau.
At one time, the line continued to Bolzano, but the section between
Maria Himmelfahrt and Bolzano was replaced by a cablecar in the
1960s (No website located at present, but see timetable information in Italian)
- Sky Express underground funicular linking the town of
Campodolcino with the skiing area of Madesimo
- Tram de Opcina
historic electric tramway running for some 5km from the centre of Trieste
to Villa Opcina. The line includes an interesting funicular section.
- Trentino Trasporti
operator of the Ferrovia Trentino Malé, a metre gauge electric railway
from Trento to the mountain resort of Marilleva 900 via Malé, a
distance of about 60km with a climb of over 700m (Site in
Italian)
- Railtour
Italia operates historic steam trains on the tracks of RFI and
private railways
Urban railways, metros, trams and funiculars
- Roma (Rome)
Metro, trams and local ralways
- Bergamo
- Biella funicular (Site in Italian)
- Bolzano
funiculars (Site in Italian)
- Brescia
Metro under construction (Site in Italian)
- Certaldo (near Florence) funicular linking the car parks
with the Old Town (No website located at present)
- Como funicular
(Site in Italian)
- Firenze
(Florence) trams (Site in Italian)
- Genova (Genoa)
Metro and funiculars (Site in Italian)
- Livorno (Leghorn) Montenero funicular
(No website located at present)
- Milano (Milan)
Metro, trams and local railways
- Montecatini
Terme funicular to Montecatini Alto
- Napoli (Naples)
Metro and funiculars (Site in Italian). A separate site
details Metro Line 6,
long under construction but still incomplete
- Orvieto funicular
- Padova
(Padua) tram system under construction (Site in
Italian)
- Palermo
proposed tram system (Site in Italian)
- Perugia
Mini-metro (Site in Italian)
- Torino (Turin)
- Metro
- GTT
trams (including the circular line 7 operated by heritage trams, and
the Sassi - Superga rack tram) and local railways to Ceres and Pont
Canavese
- Varese funiculars (Site in Italian)
Sicily
Main line services on the island are operated by Trenitalia.
Sardinia
Main line services on the island are operated by Trenitalia.
- arst
various narrow (950mm) gauge railways, also trams in Cagliari and Sassari
(Site in Italian)
- Il
Trenino Verde steam hauled tourist services on sections of the
narrow gauge (950mm) lines (Site in Italian)
