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Stefano Maggi (University of Siena)
The building of secondary railways in mountainous regions: the Italian case
Railway map, 1900
Railway and progress • The arrival of the railway
meant, especially in remote areas, 9e with the progress of the nineteenth century.
• Throughout the nineteenth century and in the early twen9eth century, it was thought that the locomo9ve – as the main symbol of progress – should get to connect every city and every country.
Old transport
• Without the railway people and goods were forced to move slowly on board carts pulled by animals, completely anachronis9c in a world in which the progress was represented by iron and steam.
1866: a first project for secondary railways
• In February 1866 the Minister of Public Works presented to the Chamber of Depu9es a bill for secondary railways, following the French example where a similar law was passed in July 1865.
• Secondary railways was implemen9ng a debate concerning also the involvement of provinces and municipali9es, who were trying to enter a leading role in na9onal life.
1873: the beginning of the construcBon
• The projects of the mid-‐'60s were stranded on the difficul9es of finance, dealing with the third war of independence for the libera9on of the Veneto, but the problem reappeared a decade later, when the complaints became even more pressing.
• In 1873, the construc9on of secondary railways in Italy began with some lines in the Veneto region for which consor9a of municipali9es and provinces were formed in order to contribute to the costs.
A plan to complete the network
• At the end of the 1870s, aWer much discussion, was prepared a master plan, developing lines of regional and local interest for a total of 6,000 km.
• Spending was enormous, 1,260 million lire, for the period 1880 to 1900.
The law of 1879
• The plan was approved by a law of July 1879, according to which the infrastructures to be built were divided into four categories.
4 categories • For the three major categories listed the lines were in the same
law: the first type belonged 8 lines that had to be made on behalf and at the expense of the state.
• The 19 lines of the second category were built with the assistance required by the State of municipali>es and provinces, required to be paid in 20 annual installments of 1/10 of the cost.
• For the realiza9on of the 36 lines of the third category, the local authori9es had to compete for 1/5 in construc>on costs.
• Finally, the government was authorized to build other 1,530 km of railways, which were the fourth category and referred to as “secondary railways”, not iden>fied in the law. Provinces and municipali>es had yet to prove its usefulness and would endeavor to contribute to the costs proving to possess the means: were required to pay 4/10 of the cost.
A poliBcal project
• Prime Minister Agos9no Depre9s, in the prepara9on of the project, had devised the stratagem of kilometers free to give hope to many local Members of Parliament.
• They wanted their lines were included in the law and with free kilometers kept that hope. Otherwise, the measure would never have passed for vetoes of parochialism.
1885: reducBon of costs for municipaliBes and provinces
• The railway was so important for local communi9es to monopolize the poli9cal debate.
• AWer some changes in the following years, some 1,000 km of lines of the fourth category were funded in 1885, reducing to 1/10 the compe>>on in spending by local authori>es.
• As a result of this addi9onal facility, were presented several projects for 6,500 km of new secondary lines, which required the appointment of a commi_ee with the task of making a benchmarking.
Tram and railway • In the last two decades of
XIX century, narrow-‐gauge railways, rack railways, tramways outside the city were made.
• Tramways allowed to save puang the tracks on ordinary roads.
…more poliBcal than technical and economic
• The author of a paper published in February 1893 on the main Italian magazine of culture, the “New Anthology”, stated:
• «The predominant concept that led to the construc3on of the Italian railways from the forma3on of the new kingdom now, has almost always been more poli3cal than technical and economic. Financial could have been only for a small part. But if such a concept from the beginning was great, highly na3onal, not only right but necessary, later went hand in hand becoming smaller, almost always rather regional and reasonable»
…very low product • Most secondary routes recorded a very low mileage product, showing a deficit from the beginning.
• They were built on routes where the movement was minimal to accommodate local mayors and depu9es, who oWen based their campaigns elec9on on the promise of construc9on of railways.
• However, the building of secondary railways was a common development in all countries, as a symbol of progress.
Length of the railway network in some European countries
Anno United Kingdom France Germany Italy Spain Belgium
1830 157 31 - - - -
1840 2.390 410 469 20 - 334
1850 9.797 2.915 5.856 620 28 854
1860 14.603 9.167 11.089 2.404 1.885 1.729
1870 21.558 15.544 18.876 6.429 5.454 2.897
1880 25.060 23.089 33.838 9.290 7.491 4.112
1890 27.827 33.280 42.869 13.629 10.163 4.526
1900 30.079 38.109 51.678 16.429 13.205 4.562
Source: B.R. Mitchell, Interna3onal Historical Sta3s3cs. Europe 1750-‐1993, New York, 1998, p. 673-‐677.
Secondary railways now
• A lot of secondary railways and suburban trams closed beginning during the 1930s, and above all in 1960, up to now.
• Only a few examples of secondary railways were recovered and relaunched.
An old railway. Maglie-‐Otranto, Puglia
A new railway, Fortezza-‐San Candido, Alto Adige
A secondary railway renewed
Monitor inside the train New trains Fortezza-‐San Candido, ex interna3onal route, now a secondary railway
A secondary railway renewed
Bicycle parking in the railway sta9on Trains and plahorms with no steps
A secondary railway renewed
Bus-‐train interchange Bike path along the railway
A secondary railway renewed
Bicycles on the train The train is long for many people