The Ferrovia Alta Valtellina (FAV) is a railway line in Italy which connects Sondrio, in Valtellina, to Tirano in Alta Valtellina (Upper Tellina Valley). The railway company was established in 1899 and the line opened in 1902. Many railways in Italy were nationalized in 1905 but the Ferrovia Alta Valtellina escaped and was not nationalized until 1970.
In 1899 a company was established for the Alta Valtellina Railway (FAV) with the aim of connecting Sondrio with Tirano. It obtained the concession in August of the same year and started construction work. The line, called the Alta Valtellina, was a natural continuation of the Valtellina Line (Sondrio-Lecco) and the service was inaugurated on 29 June 1902. [1] Initially it was operated by steam traction using four Henschel steam locomotives. Numbers 1-3 were 0-4-0T and number 4 was a 0-6-0T of the Prussian T 3 type. Three more Prussian T 3s, numbers 5-7, arrived later. FAV No.6 is preserved. [2]
On 1 July 1908, the Tirano-St.Moritz line was activated by the Swiss private company Berninabahn (now part of the Rhaetian Railway) which allowed the connection of the Upper Tellina Valley with the Swiss slopes of the region.
In 1932 the line was electrified using the same three-phase system as the Ferrovia della Valtellina. Four electric locomotives were used and they became FAV Class E.440. Numbers 1-3 were built by Costruzioni Elettro Meccaniche di Saronno (CEMSA). Number 4 was built by Tecnomasio Italiano Brown Boveri (TIBB).
In 1967, due to the declining popularity of three-phase traction, the line was de-electrified and operated by diesel-powered trains of type ALn 556 chartered from Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (FS). In 1970, the line was nationalized and became part of the FS network. On 29 May 1980, electric traction was re-introduced using the 3 kV direct current system. From 1981 the first direct trains from Milan to Tirano were established.
In the mid-1980s, the line was the subject of a larger programme to upgrade the route from Milan for a cost of about 100 billion lire, which involved the activation of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) between Sondrio and Tirano, with a Central Manager in Colico. As part of this plan, in 1986 the stations of Chiuro, San Giacomo di Teglio, Bianzone and Villa di Tirano were downgraded to halts.
Since 2008, train services have been progressively reduced from 19 to 13, and in June 2014 there was a further reduction. Currently, there are 9 daily services.
Valtellina or the Valtelline is a valley in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, bordering Switzerland. Today it is known for its ski center, hot spring spas, bresaola, cheeses and wines. In past centuries it was a key alpine pass between northern Italy and Germany and control of the Valtellina was much sought after, particularly during the Thirty Years' War as it was an important part of the Spanish Road.
Hungarian State Railways is the Hungarian national railway company, with divisions "MÁV START Zrt.", "MÁV-Gépészet Zrt." (maintenance) and "MÁV-Trakció Zrt.". The "MÁV Cargo Zrt" was sold to Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) in 2007. The head office is in Budapest.
Tirano is a town in Valtellina, located in the province of Sondrio in northern Italy. It has 9,053 inhabitants (2016) and is adjacent to the Switzerland-Italy boundary. The river Adda flows through the town.
The Italian railway system is one of the most important parts of the infrastructure of Italy, with a total length of 24,227 km (15,054 mi) as of 2011.
The FS Class E.550 was a class of three-phase electric locomotive used in Italy, introduced in the 20th century, which remained in service until 1965.
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The Bernina Railway is a single-track 1,000 mmmetre gauge railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland, with the town of Tirano, in the Province of Sondrio, Italy, via the Bernina Pass. Reaching a height of 2,253 metres (7,392 ft) above sea level, it is the highest railway crossing in Europe and the third-highest railway in Switzerland. It also ranks as the highest adhesion railway of the continent, and – with inclines of up to 7% – as one of the steepest adhesion railways in the world. The elevation difference on the section between the Bernina Pass and Tirano is 1,824 m (5,984 ft), allowing passengers to view glaciers along the line.
The Brenner Railway is a major line connecting the Austrian and Italian railways from Innsbruck to Verona, climbing up the Wipptal, passing over the Brenner Pass, descending down the Eisacktal to Bolzano/Bozen, then further down the Adige Valley to Rovereto/Rofreit, and along the section of the Adige Valley, called in Italian the “Vallagarina”, to Verona. This railway line is part of the Line 1 of Trans-European Transport Networks (TEN-T). It is considered a "fundamental" line by the state railways Ferrovie dello Stato (FS).
Three-phase AC railway electrification was used in Italy, Switzerland and the United States in the early twentieth century. Italy was the major user, from 1901 until 1976, although lines through two tunnels also used the system; the Simplon Tunnel between Switzerland and Italy from 1906 to 1930, and the Cascade Tunnel of the Great Northern Railway in the United States from 1909 to 1939. The first standard gauge line was in Switzerland, from Burgdorf to Thun, from 1899 to 1933.
Tirano railway station (RFI) is one of two railway stations within the town and comune of Tirano, in the region of Lombardy, northern Italy. Opened in 1902, it is the terminus of the Tirano–Lecco railway.
Lecco railway station is the main station serving the town and comune of Lecco, in the region of Lombardy, northern Italy. Opened in 1863, it is the terminus of five lines, namely to Bergamo, to Como, to Milan, to Molteno and Monza and to Tirano.
Sondrio railway station serves the town and comune of Sondrio, in the region of Lombardy, northern Italy. Opened in 1885, it is located on the Tirano–Lecco railway.
Porto Ceresio–Milan railway is a railway line in Lombardy, Italy. It uses the tracks of the Milan–Arona railway until Gallarate.
The Tirano–Lecco railway is a railway line in Lombardy, Italy.
The ALe 582 is an Italian electric multiple unit train designed for commuter and medium-distance services, developed in the mid-1980s to replace pre-war and immediately post-war EMUs and locomotive-hauled trains on various lines in Sicily and Southern Italy, although they later diffused on the whole FS network. They're part of the "ALe Elettroniche" or "G.A.I." family, together with their predecessors ALe 724 and their successors, the ALe 642.
The FS Class E.360 were electric locomotives of the Italian State Railways (FS), using three-phase alternating current, built for the operation of the Valtellina line. They were ordered by Rete Adriatica and were originally numbered RA 361–363. Italian railways were nationalized in 1905 and they then became FS E.361-363 They were leased to Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in 1906 and returned to Italy in 1907.
The Ferrovia della Valtellina is a railway line in Italy that runs from Lecco to Valtellina and Valchiavenna. It was opened in 1894 and electrified on the three-phase system in 1902. It is now electrified at 3 kV direct current and operated by Trenord.
The FS Class E.430 locomotives, initially classed as RA 34, were three-phase alternating current electric locomotives of the Italian railways. They were built for Ferrovia della Valtellina by Ganz and MÁVAG in 1901 and had a power output of 440 kW and a haulage capacity of 300 tons. One locomotive is preserved.
FAV Class E.440 was a class of four electric locomotives built for the Italian Ferrovia Alta Valtellina (FAV) in 1932 for the operation between Sondrio and Tirano.
FS Class 113 was a class of 0-4-2 steam locomotives of the Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), inherited from older railway companies on the nationalization of Italian railways in 1905. They were built by Gio. Ansaldo & C. between 1854 and 1869.