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Terontola–Foligno railway

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Terontola–Foligno railway
Overview
Statusin use
OwnerRete Ferroviaria Italiana
Line number106
LocaleUmbria, Tuscany, Italy
Termini
Service
TypeHeavy rail
Operator(s)Trenitalia
History
Opened21 July 1866
Technical
Line length82 km (51 mi)
Number of tracks1
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification3 kV DC
Route map

km
82.200
Terontola-Cortona
271 m
78.795
Borghetto di Tuoro
265 m
74.762
Tuoro sul Trasimeno
267 m
70.207
Passignano sul Trasimeno
263 m
63.679
Torricella
260 m
63.103
Magione tunnel (1,301 m)
61.802
60.879
Magione
252 m
55.423
Monte Melino
(1939[1]–1998)
229 m
49.616
Ellera-Corciano
256 m
to Tavernelle (closed 1960)
46.326
Perugia Silvestrini
(opened 2003[2])
43.763
Perugia Capitini
(opened 2008[3])
41.775
Perugia Università
(opened 2003[2])
39.580
Perugia
304 m
32.765
Perugia Montebello
(opened 1962[4])
250 m
28.333
Perugia Ponte San Giovanni
208 m
24.438
Perugia Aeroporto
(1939[5]–1939[6])
24.438
Collestrada
(1866–1930)
22.600
Ospedalicchio
(opened 1939[7])
200 m
19.026
Bastia
203 m
15.639
Assisi
222 m
10.009
Cannara
(closed 1995)
210 m
4.904
Spello
220 m
0.000
Foligno
239 m
km
Source: Italian railway atlas[8]

The Terontola–Foligno railway is an electrified, standard-gauge Italian railway that connects the Florence–Rome railway in Terontola-Cortona with the Rome–Ancona railway in Foligno, passing through Perugia and Assisi.

History

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Section Opened[9]
Collestrada–Foligno 21 July 1866
Ponte San Giovanni–Collestrada 3 September 1866
Terontola-CortonaEllera 14 October 1866
Ellera–Ponte San Giovanni 12 December 1866

The railway was inaugurated in December 1866 as an integral section of the Florence–Foligno line, which was later merged with the Rome–Ancona railway, thus making journeys between Florence and Rome possible; this became more important after the conquest of Rome by Italy in 1870.

In 1875, with the opening of the Terontola–Chiusi section, which shortened the Florence–Rome route by several tens of kilometres, all the trains between these two destinations were diverted to the new railway; the Terontola–Foligno was subsequently relegated to the role of secondary railway.

Starting in 1960, the railway underwent numerous modernisations: it was electrified, the equipment was replaced and the main station squares were rebuilt. However, the branch to Tavernelle (Panicale), which connected to the line at Ellera-Corciano station was closed due to low traffic.

Electric operations on the line commenced at the timetable change of May 1960.[10]

Over time, the line has continued to play the role of connecting the Florence–Rome and the Rome–Ancona lines, frequented mostly by regional trains of various compositions and railcars of the Ferrovia Centrale Umbra, as well as by trains running directly between Perugia and Rome via Foligno. Travel times for the whole line range from 60 to 90 minutes. Doubling of the line was planned in 2011.

Route

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The Terontola–Foligno line can be divided into three sections.

The first section, about 25 kilometers long, winds from the junction with the Florence-Rome to the exit from Ellera-Corciano station and is characterised by long straights and very wide curves. It begins in the Tuscan territory with a two-kilometre straight from Terontola station and, after a couple of short tunnels, turns south-east reaching Tuoro station; it continues alongside Lake Trasimeno, following its profile and passing by Montecolognola with the longest tunnel of the line, about 1.3 km long, and reaching Magione; it then runs to Ellera, including a long stretch on an embankment.

The second section, of about 18 km, starts from Ellera and continues to Ponte San Giovanni; it has the steepest grades of the line (around 1.0%) and the narrowest curves (although the curve radiuses are never less than 500 metres). There are also four tunnels and a masonry viaduct with five spans in the San Vetturino area. The railway winds around the Umbrian capital in a sinuous "S", shaped path, called the ansa di Perugia ("loop of Perugia"), which significantly extends travel times. At Ponte San Giovanni, the line crosses the Terni–Perugia–Sansepolcro railway, which runs through the entire Tiber Valley in a north–south direction; a short branch (5.3 km) runs from the same station to Perugia Sant'Anna, near Perugia's historic centre.

The third section, about 28 km long, runs from Ponte San Giovanni to Foligno and is characterised by a totally flat area and an almost straight line, except for some bends near the towns. In this first part of the line, the main structures are a masonry bridge over the Tiber, immediately after Ponte San Giovanni station, a deep cutting in Collestrada, a metal bridge over the Chiascio and a masonry bridge over the Topino. Two stations on this last section of the line (Ospedalicchio and Cannara) have been closed due to a lack of traffic: the first has been disused since 1980, while the second closed in 1995. The facilities of the two stations still exist, but trains have not stopped there for some time.

References

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  1. ^ Ordine di Servizio (in Italian) (99). Ferrovie dello Stato. 1939.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  2. ^ a b "Impianti FS". I Treni (in Italian). XXIV (248). Salò: Editrice Trasporti su Rotaie: 5. May 2003. ISSN 0392-4602.
  3. ^ "Impianti FS". I Treni (in Italian). XXIX (304). Salò: Editrice Trasporti su Rotaie: 8. May 2008. ISSN 0392-4602.
  4. ^ Ordine di Servizio (in Italian) (98). Ferrovie dello Stato. 1962.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  5. ^ Ordine di Servizio (in Italian) (4). Ferrovie dello Stato. 1939.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  6. ^ Ordine di Servizio (in Italian) (113). Ferrovie dello Stato. 1939.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  7. ^ Ordine di Servizio (in Italian) (3). Ferrovie dello Stato. 1939.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  8. ^ Railway Atlas 2010, pp. 58, 59.
  9. ^ Prospetto cronologico 1926.
  10. ^ Leppo, Ettore (June 1960). "Giugno T.E.". Voci della Rotaia (in Italian). III (6): 6.

Bibliography

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Media related to Terontola–Foligno railway at Wikimedia Commons