Genova-Ventimiglia railway
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Genova-Ventimiglia railway runs along the coast of the Liguria region of Italy. It was opened as a single track line between Genova and Savona in 1868, and between Savona and Ventimiglia in 1872.
The line is being doubled mainly by building an entirely new double track line parallel to the existing railway, because the line often runs through towns where there is no space for a second track. The new line also increases the maximum speed from 100 to 180 km/h. The line is mainly in tunnels: 61km of the 74km of line between Ospedaletti and Finale Ligure is underground, and the rest of the line has similar proportions. The longest tunnel is Caponero-Capoverde (13.135 km). This tunnel includes the new Sanremo station.
The new line has fewer stations than the old, leaving some towns without a railway service. Another disadvantage is that being mainly in tunnel the new line will not offer tourists spectacular views of the Riviera coast as the old line did.
As of 2007, 18 km of new double track line are under construction (San Lorenzo-Andora) and 32km are in the planning stage (Andora-Finale Ligure).
