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Valtellina railway | |
---|---|
Overview | |
Status | Operational |
Locale | Italy (Sondrio) |
Termini | |
Stations | 20 |
Service | |
System | Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) |
Operator(s) | Ferrovie dello Stato |
History | |
Opened | 1885-1894 |
Technical | |
Number of tracks | Single track |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
Electrification | Electrified at 3000 V DC |
The Ferrovia della Valtellina (Valtellina railway) 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 line was built in stages between 1885 and 1894. Two large railway companies dominated the area at the time. They were the Rete Adriatica (Adriatic network) and the Rete Mediterranea (Mediterranean network). With the opening of the Colico-Bellano section, on 1 August 1894 a complete railway service started.
The Valtellina railway is notable for being an early user of electric traction. It was the first in Italy and the first in the world to use high-voltage three-phase alternating current for rail traction.
In 1897, Hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó designed an electric system and engines for the Italian railways, the electric traction system had great advantages and importance on the very steep railway tracks in the mountainous regions of Italy. Under his leadership the Ganz factory began work on three-phase haulage for railways. Based on their design, the Italian Ferrovia della Valtellina was electrified in 1902 and became Europe's first electrified main line railway.
On 15 October 1902 the electrification began on the Lecco-Colico-Chiavenna and Colico-Sondrio sections with overhead power lines at 3,000 V, 15 Hz. [1] [2] The frequency was later raised to 15.8 Hz for reasons unknown. Finally, the voltage and frequency were raised to 3,600 V, 16.7 Hz, which became an Italian standard. Power was supplied by the Campovico hydroelectric plant.
The line is now electrified with 3 kV direct current.
The line was built with great technical daring but the Lecco-Colico-Chiavenna section now shows its age. Over the 40 kilometres to Colico there are 89 curves, 18 viaducts and 19 tunnels. However, the line, which runs along the eastern shore of Lake Como with its jagged coastline, offers passengers enchanting views of inlets in which can be seen patrician villas, lush vegetation and lake marinas.
Tirano station is an interchange point for travellers who want to go to Switzerland on the Rhaetian Railway, a narrow-gauge line, departing from the aforementioned station that follows a route that reaches 2,253 metres in height and the famous tourist station St. Moritz.
The line is used by regional trains of Trenord which run along the Sondrio-Lecco and Sondrio-Tirano routes (stopping at all stations), and from Regio Express trains - until 2007 called Diretti - of Trenord, many of which travel the entire Tirano route to Milan Central.
From December 2014, on public holidays and the month of August the Regional trains of Lecco-Sondrio terminate at Colico and are replaced by buses for the remaining section.
Initially the rolling stock used, with three-phase alternating current, consisted of:
More recently, compositions have been used, between Milan and Tirano, of an FS Class E.464 electric locomotive with 7 MDVC carriages [Carrozze_FS_tipo_MDVC [ it ]] and MDVC pilot, while the festive trains consist of FS Class ALe 803 electric multiple units or E.464 locomotives and low-floor carriages. Sometimes FS Class ALe 582 or, rarely, compositions of FS Class ALn 668 diesel railcars are used. From 2015 on the Milano Centrale-Tirano route, ETR 425 trainsets are used.
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas turbines, are classed as diesel-electric or gas turbine-electric and not as electric locomotives, because the electric generator/motor combination serves only as a power transmission system.
Kálmán Kandó de Egerfarmos et Sztregova was a Hungarian engineer, the inventor of phase converter and a pioneer in the development of AC electric railway traction.
The Ganz Machinery Works Holding is a Hungarian holding company. Its products are related to rail transport, power generation, and water supply, among other industries.
Hungarian State Railways is the Hungarian national railway company, with divisions "MÁV START Zrt.", and "Utasellátó". The head office is in Budapest.
Colico is a town and comune in the province of Lecco, in Lombardy in northern Italy. It is situated on the northern arm of Lake Como, where the river Adda enters the lake. Colico is the largest town in the northern part of Lake Como, which is often identified as its Colico branch.
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.
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.
The Tirano–Lecco railway is an electrified railway line in Lombardy, Italy.
Colico railway station is a railway station in Italy. Located on the Tirano–Lecco railway and the Colico-Chiavenna railway, it serves the town of Colico.
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 MÁV Class V40 was an electric locomotive of the Hungarian State Railways (MÁV) and the first production electric locomotive using the Kandó system. It had a wheel arrangement of 1'D1' or 2-8-2 and a single Metropolitan-Vickers traction motor driving through side rods.
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 FS Class E.471 locomotives were prototype three-phase AC electric locomotives designed for the Italian State Railways (FS). They constituted the first Italian experiment in using a phase converter. The final goal was to power them with single-phase alternating current, constituting the first case of a European locomotive of this type designed according to modern criteria. However, the difficulty of the development, and political interference, led to the abandonment of the project.
The Ferrovia Alta Valtellina (FAV) is a railway line in Italy which connects Sondrio, in Valtellina, to Tirano in Alta Valtellina. 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.
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.
FS Class E.333 was a class of electric locomotives of the Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), powered by three-phase alternating current, which were in service from 1923 to 1968. They were designed by Kálmán Kandó for hauling fast passenger trains. Having the same electrical equipment as the FS Class E.552 locomotives, they presented the same defects and had to be modified. After modification, they were able to carry out the services for which they were designed.
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.