Naples–Foggia railway

The Naples–Foggia railway is an Italian railway line connecting Naples, in Campania, with Foggia, in Apulia, crossing the Apennines at the saddle of Ariano through a series of tunnels.

Naples–Foggia railway
Overview
OwnerRFI
LocaleApulia, Campania, Italy
Termini
Service
Operator(s)Trenitalia
History
Opened1867
Technical
Line length194 km (121 mi)
Track gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8+12 in) standard gauge
Electrification3000 V DC
Route map

km
197.540
Napoli Centrale
13 m
188.551
Casoria-Afragola
63 m
Casoria
(old)
Naples–Caivano tramway
Naples–Frattamaggiore tramway
183.819
Frattamaggiore-Grumo Nevano
52 m
182.114
Sant'Antimo-Sant'Arpino
51 m
1928 deviation
178.320
Aversa
38 m
from Villa Literno
174.660
Gricignano
20 m
to Maddaloni-Marcianise marshalling yard
168.941
Marcianise
29 m
165.720
Recale
53 m
A1E45
163.400
Caserta
end of double track
61 m
155.801
Maddaloni Superiore
141 m
150.668
Valle di Maddaloni
103 m
144.228
Frasso Telesino-Dugenta
53 m
137.623
Amorosi-Melizzano
40 m
to Telese Bagni, closed 1959[1]
132.788
Telese-Cerreto
51 m
128.648
Solopaca
57 m
120.815
San Lorenzo Maggiore
74 m
116.562
Ponte-Casalduni
111.700
108.235
Mascambroni tunnel
107.080
Vitulano-Foglianise (closed 2000)
beginning of double track
110 m
106.394
San Vitale tunnel (4164 m)
Vitulano-Foglianise
(old)
102.230
EAV line from Cancello
101.058
100.859
Benevento
122 m
Left arrowto Cancello / to CampobassoRight arrow
94.729
Paduli sul Calore
138 m
88.920
Apice tunnel
87.758
Apice-Sant'Arcangelo-Bonito
(end of double track)
158 m
82.688
Corsano
190 m
73.902
Montecalvo-Buonalbergo-Casalbore
273 m
71.124
Cristina tunnel
(1433 m)
69.691
69.508
Castelfranco in Miscano
(opened 1939)[2]
354 m
69.331
Starza tunnel
(2600 m)
66.731
62.654
Ariano Irpino
479 m
61.388
Ariano tunnel
(3205 m)
58.183
58.075
Pianerottolo d'Ariano
547 m
52.367
Savignano-Greci
474 m
46.076
Montaguto-Panni
395 m
42.229
Orsara di Puglia
359 m
40.129
Colle Lamia tunnel
Bovino-Deliceto
(old, closed 2016)
33.070
32.754
Bovino-Deliceto
start of double track
260 m
29.490
beginning of Ponte Albanito
deviation (opened 2016)
26.538
26.230
Troia-Castelluccio Sauri
(closed 2016)
201 m
25.487
end of Ponte Albanito
deviation (opened 2016)
24.768
24.460
beginning of Cervaro deviation
(opened 2012)
16.450
Ponte Albanito
(old)
16.125
Ponte Albanito
124 m
from Potenza
8.647
Cervaro
(closed 2012)
79 m
end of Cervaro deviation (opened 2012)
old line closed 2016
7.923
P.M. Cervaro
(crossing loop
opened 2012)
6.211
2.950
Cervaro link
double track 1941–1964
single track since 2015
from Manfredonia
0.000
Foggia
64 m
km
Source: Italian railway atlas[3]

The railway infrastructure is managed by the Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, which classifies it as one of its primary lines.[4] It is part of a westward extension of Pan-European Corridor VIII.

It is being developed as a line with features of high-speed rail with the doubling of single-track sections and the raising of line speeds to between 180 km/h and 200 km/h. These improvements are intended to allow connections between Naples and Bari in two hours and between Rome and Bari in three hours in 2026.[5]

History

Construction

Section Opened[6]
BovinoFoggia 27 January 1867
NaplesCaserta 7 May 1867
Caserta–Casalduni 15 March 1868
Casalduni–Benevento 18 April 1868
Benevento–Santo Spirito 1 August 1868
Savignano–Bovino 1 August 1868
Starza–Pianerottolo 25 January 1869
Savignano–Pianerottolo 12 June 1869
Santo Spirito–Starza 26 May 1870
Telese–Telese Bagni branch 15 July 1883

The Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali ("Company for the Southern Railways") obtained a concession for the construction and operation of a railway that linked the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Sea, connecting Foggia to Naples, under the "Bastogi" law of 1862 that enabled the foundation of the company (law no. 763).

In the previous decade, a railway project to connect Caserta with Foggia, taking advantage of the just completed Rome–Cassino–Naples railway, had been proposed to the government of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The project subsequently collapsed due to political and financial problems. However the Società Meridionali preferred to resume that project rather than build a new line that started from Naples and crossed the Valle Caudina. Work began at both ends of the line.[7]

The first section to be opened for operation was between Bovino and Foggia, on 27 January 1867, followed by several sections in the following year: Caserta–Casalduni (15 March), Casalduni–Benevento (18 April), Savignano–Bovino and Benevento–Santo Spirito (1 August). In 1869, these were followed by the sections between Starza and Pianerottolo (25 January) and between Pianerottolo and Savignano (12 June). The line was completed on 26 May 1870 with the opening of the section between Santo Spirito and Starza.[6]

On the night of 29–30 September 1889 the line was the site of the Pianerottolo d'Ariano accident which caused two deaths and seven serious injuries due to a head-on collision between two trains inside the Ariano tunnel.

The Ferrovie dello Stato took over the operation of the line following the nationalisation of the railways, including the lines built by the Società Meridionale, in 1906.[8]

Electrification

The newly electrified Ariano Irpino station

The Benevento–Foggia section was the first line to be electrified at 3000 volts DC.[9] The piling and the catenary were installed between 1926 and 1928. Test runs began in September 1927, with trains pulled by FS Class E.626 electric locomotives. Regular electric operations began on 1 March 1928.[10][note 1] Electrification was extended to Caserta and Naples in 1931.[10]

Track duplication

Duplication of the line began in the 1990s. The new section between Vitulano and Apice was opened on 3 December 1997, replacing a more tortuous route. On the same day, the old Vitulano station, which was on the old route, was closed and replaced by the new Vitulano station, which has also since closed.[7]

Adaptation of the whole line to "high capacity" (Alta Capacità) standards by 2026 is under way on several sections.[11]

In July 2015, a link was activated that allows a direct connect to the Adriatic railway without reversal in Foggia.[12]

In addition, a deviation was opened that connects Bovino with Foggia without passing through Cervaro station, which is now only used as a crossing loop. Work on the first segment (18.5 km) was completed in December 2012, while the entire section (23 km) was completed in 2016 and opened on 28 June 2017.[13]

The picture shows a construction site with concrete pillars
Construction works near Valle di Maddaloni in 2020

Further work is planned as follows:

  • the reconstruction of the section of the Rome–Cassino–Naples railway from Naples to Cancello, which will now pass through Napoli Afragola;
  • the construction of a new double track section between Cancello and Frasso Telesino-Dugenta. This new cut-off will mean that trains running from Naples to Foggia via Cancello (and vice versa) will not have to reverse in Caserta or pass through the municipality of Maddaloni;
  • the doubling of the existing section between Frasso Telesino and Vitulano, together with any changes to the track necessary to achieve the "high capacity" standard;
  • the adaptation of the already double-track section between Vitulano and Apice to the "high capacity" standard;
  • the construction of a double-track deviation passing south of the current line. The new route will start from the now closed Apice station and will go up the Ufita river to the Santa Sofia plain (in the municipal area of Ariano Irpino) where a new station called "Hirpinia" will be built, serving the district and the industrial area of the Ufita valley. The line will continue north, crossing the Apennine watershed through an approximately 25 km-long tunnel: it will come to the surface in the Cervaro valley near Montaguto and then rejoin the current line near Orsara di Puglia station;
  • the construction of a new double-track line parallel to the current one between Orsara di Puglia and Bovino;
  • the adaptation to the "high capacity" standard of the Cervaro–Foggia section which, like the Vitulano–Apice section (to be adapted for higher speeds) and the Bovino–Cervaro section (already completed), already has two tracks.[11]

Standards

The railway is single track with the exception of the NaplesCaserta, VitulanoBeneventoApice and BovinoFoggia sections. The line is electrified at 3000 volts DC.

Traffic control

Railway traffic on the section between Caserta and Cervaro is regulated by an operations centre manager (Dirigente Centrale Operativo) based in Napoli Centrale, while between Cervaro and Foggia, operations are entrusted to local station masters.

Rail traffic

Most passenger traffic is carried by medium to long distance trains, with 10 ETR 485 Frecciargento services serving Caserta, Benevento and Foggia, and four InterCity services that also stop in Telese-Cerreto and Ariano Irpino.

Regional traffic between Caserta and Benevento is modest and was initially operated by Aln 663 and 668 railcars, and by low-floor carriages hauled by E.464 locomotives, with the addition of the Minuetto diesel multiple units in 2004. In 2015 a pair of Jazz electric multiple units entered service on the Naples–Benevento section, together with a pair of Swing diesel multiple units on the Benevento–Caserta–Campobasso route.

The Benevento–Foggia section has had no local services since 2010, therefore all the stations on the section (with the exception of Ariano Irpino, which are served by four InterCity services) still exist but are unused.

References

Notes

  1. According to some sources, the tests began on 29 September 1927.

Footnotes

  1. "Soppressione della linea ferroviaria a scartamento ordinario Telese Cerreto-Telese Bagni". Presidential Decree (in Italian) (873). 26 August 1959.
  2. Ordine di Servizio n. 36 (in Italian). Azienda autonoma delle Ferrovie dello Stato. 1939.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  3. Railway Atlas 2010, pp. 77–79, 82, 150–53, 155.
  4. "Rete in esercizio" (PDF) (in Italian). RFI. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 February 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  5. "Benefici attesi" (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  6. Prospetto cronologico 1926.
  7. "La ferrovia Caserta - Benevento - Foggia" (in Italian). Lestradeferrate. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  8. Maggi 2007, p. 179.
  9. "Treni a Benevento e dintorni, ieri e oggi" (in Italian). Ferrovie. Archived from the original on 6 January 2020. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  10. Cornolò 2008, p. 495.
  11. "Bretella di Foggia - Bretella di Foggia - Napoli Bari" (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  12. "Da settembre l'Eurostar per Milano Baffo Cervaro anche per passeggeri". Corriere del Mezzogiorno (in German). 13 June 2015. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  13. "Napoli-Bari, inaugurato primo tratto. Delrio: "È un grande progetto"". Corriere del Mezzogiorno (in German). 28 June 2017. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2020.

Sources

  • Cornolò, Giovanni (2008). Dall'E.626 all'Eurostar. 1928-2008: ottant'anni di locomotive elettriche FS (in Italian). Parma: Ermanno Albertelli.
  • Maggi, Stefano (2007). Le ferrovie (in Italian). Bologna: Il Mulino. p. 179. ISBN 978-88-15-12391-6.
  • RFI, ed. (December 2003). Fascicolo Linea 126 (Vezzano–Parma) (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. pp. 71–96.
  • RFI, ed. (December 2003). Fascicolo Linea 134 (Cervaro–Foggia) (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. pp. 51–62.
  • Tuzza, Alessandro, ed. (1927). "Prospetto cronologico dei tratti di ferrovia aperti all'esercizio dal 1839 al 31 dicembre 1926" (in Italian). Ufficio Centrale di Statistica delle Ferrovie dello Stato/Trenidicarta.it. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  • Atlante ferroviario d'Italia e Slovenia [Railway atlas of Italy and Slovenia]. Schweers + Wall. 2010. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1.
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