Turin–Milan railway

Legend 0.00 Torino Porta Nuova To Pinerolo and Torre Pellice/Genoa To Bardonecchia and France 6.00 Torino Porta Susa Dora Riparia river To Ceres (link closed in 2006) 8.00 Torino Dora Stura di Lanzo river 12.00 Torino Stura Milan-Turin Autostrada Turin–Milan high-speed line 17.00 Settimo To Pont Canavese 25.00 Brandizzo Orco river From Aosta 29.00 Chivasso To Asti 32.00 Castelrosso To Alessandria 36.00 Torrazza Piemonte Dora Baltea river 40.00 Saluggia 43.00 Sant'Antonino di Saluggia 47.00 Livorno Ferraris Connection with Turin–Milan high-speed line 51.00 Bianzè 57.00 Tronzano Autostrada A4/A26—European route E25 57.933 Santhià From Biella and Arona 63.584 San Germano Vercellese 68.483 Olcenengo From Casale Monferrato 77.054 Vercelli Sesia river To Pavia 82.051 Borgo Vercelli Autostrada A26 88.937 Ponzana From Biella San Paolo From Varallo, Domodossola, Arona and Luino / Saronno Novara FNM (closed) 98.940 Novara / Novara Nordto Saronno Turin–Milan high-speed To Alessandria 108.464 Trecate Ticino River 120.421 Magenta 123.688 Corbetta–Santo Stefano Ticinosince 1936 [1] 126.206 Vittuone–Arluno Turin–Milan high-speed line Milan-Turin Autostrada 131.037 Pregnana Milanese 133.381 from Domodossola, from Luino and from Porto Ceresio 134.571 16.348 Rho Milan western ring road—European route E35–E62 Autostrada A4—E64 Turin–Milan high-speed line 12.618 Rho Fiera Milano Autostrada A8 8.526 Milano Certosa To Passante and Milano Porta Garibaldi Milan–Saronno railway Milan–Asso railway To Chiasso and Switzerland, Verona, Venice, Bologna and Genoa 0.000 Milano Centrale

The Turin–Milan railway is a major Italian railway that links the cities of Turin and Milan. The railway is double track, standard gauge and fully electrified at 3 kV DC. It connects the cities of Settimo Torinese, Chivasso, Santhià, Vercelli, Novara, Magenta and Rho. Since February 2006 high-speed trains have operated over the Turin–Milan high-speed line between Turin and Novara. The remainder of the high-speed line between Novara and Milan is expected to be opened in December 2009, when the Bologna–Florence high-speed line and the remaining sections of the Rome–Naples high-speed railway line and the Naples–Salerno high-speed line are also expected to open, completing the high-speed network between Turin and Salerno.

History

Construction and opening

The line was built by Thomas Brassey under contract to the Società Vittorio Emanuele ("Victor Emmanuel Company", named in honour of Victor Emmanuel II, then king of Piedmont and Sardinia) and opened between Turin and Novara on 20 October 1856 and extended to the Ticino River—which formed the boundary between Piedmont and the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia (then part of the Austrian Empire)—on 18 October 1858. The bridge over the river connecting to the existing railway from Milan at Magenta was opened on 1 June 1859.

Battle of Magenta

Three days later the French-Sardinian army led by Napoleon III defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Magenta with the help of supplies brought by the new railway. This was a major step in the unification of Italy.^[2]

Ownership changes

It was part of the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (Upper Italian Railways) from 1865, the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo (Mediterranean Railway Company) from 1885 and Ferrovie dello Stato from 1905.

References

See also

• List of railway lines in Italy