Lucca–Aulla railway

Lucca–Aulla railway
Overview
Status	in use
Owner	RFI
Locale	Tuscany, Italy
Termini	Lucca Aulla
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	Trenitalia
History
Commenced	1892 (1892)
Completed	1959 (1959)
Technical
Line length	89 km (55 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Route map to Pisa and Viareggio 0+000 Lucca Lucca–Pontedera line † 1944 to Florence Lucca–Monsummano tramway † 1957 Molino Pardini sidings 5+233 San Pietro a Vico Lucca–Ponte a Moriano tramway † 1954 9+085 Ponte a Moriano 13+508 Piaggione † 2002 14+902 Lucart paper company sidings 16+417 Diecimo-Pescaglia 19+914 Borgo a Mozzano Ponte della Maddalena 23+303 Bagni di Lucca 26+050 Calavorno † 2003 28+008 Ghivizzano-Coreglia 28+484 Tronchetti sidings † 2015 Piano di Coreglia-Ponte all'Ania 31+931 Fornaci di Barga former Europa Metalli sidings 35+274 Barga-Gallicano 38+090 Castelvecchio Pascoli 41+763 Fosciandora-Ceserana 44+924 Castelnuovo Garfagnana Ponte sul Corfino railway bridge 47+816 Pontecosi 49+813 Villetta San Romano galleria Capriola 1ª 51+271 Poggio-Careggine-Vagli galleria Capriola 2ª 53+243 Camporgiano 57+383 Piazza al Serchio Lupacino tunnel (7,515 m) 65+717 Minucciano-Pieve-Casola Ugliancaldo tunnel (3,195 m) 70+081 Equi Terme Aulella stream 72+644 Monzone-Monte dei Bianchi-Isolano Aulella stream 76+112 Gragnola 78+597 Fivizzano-Gassano 81+344 Fivizzano-Rometta-Soliera 83+246 Serricciolo † 2002 86+016 Pallerone former explosives factory sidings new routing (2008) Bibola tunnel (opened 2008) Bibola tunnel † 2008 / to La Spezia 2005 to La Spezia † 2005 (89+273) (99+693) Aulla † 2008 89+923 (98+598) Aulla Lunigiana opened 2005 to Parma (new track, opened 2005) to Parma (old track) † 2005

The Lucca-Aulla railway also known as the Garfagnana railway is an Italian railway branch line. Running from the city of Lucca the line crosses the Garfagnana and Lunigiana regions to join the Parma–La Spezia railway in Aulla.

The railway is managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) and passenger traffic is operated by Trenitalia, both of which are subsidiaries of Italy's state-owned rail company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS).

Route

The railway begins at Lucca railway station, crossing the Via Pesciatina, which until 1957 housed the metric gauge track of the Lucca–Monsummano electric tramway to Pescia. After passing the suburb of San Pietro a Vico the line reaches Ponte a Moriano, the terminus of the first stretch of the railway to be built and once home to a both a factory connected to the railway station as well as the Lucca–Ponte a Moriano steam tramway.

In almost flat territory the line passes the now-closed Piaggione station and another siding, this time to a factory owned by Italian paper company Lucart. The railway calls at two stations serving the town of Borgo a Mozzano before passing under a purpose-built fornix in the Ponte della Maddalena and following the Serchio river to the spa town of Bagni di Lucca.

Passing two disused stations, and a junction leading to a paper mill, the line continues to Fornaci di Barga railway station where further sidings previously served the Europa Metalli plant now operated by KME Group. Two further stops serve the town of Barga: Barga-Gallicano railway station and Castelvecchio Pascoli railway station, the latter named for the famous Italian poet Giovanni Pascoli.

The line continues uphill serving stops at Fosciandora-Ceserana, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Villetta San Romano, Poggio-Careggine-Vagli and Camporgiano.

Arriving at Piazza al Serchio the line comes to the outer reaches of the Garfagnana region from which it takes its traditional name. In memory of the steam locomotives that formerly operated on the Lucca–Aulla railway, an FS Class 940 locomotive is preserved here as a monument.

From here the railway passes through the Lupacino tunnel which at 7,515 metres (4.670 mi) is the longest of the line. Onwards to Minucciano-Pieve-Casola and the town of Equi Terme the line reaches the steepest incline of its route heading onwards to Monzone-Monte dei Bianchi-Isolano.

Heading onwards through the Lunigiana further stops pass through Gragnola and on through the territory of Fivizzano with stops at Rometta-Soliera and Gassano. From here the line passes former explosives factory sidings to enter a new track layout introduced in 2008 to reach the end of the line at Aulla.

Technical specification

The line is non-electrified single-track and operates under a remotely managed control system based in Pisa. It is equipped with an electric signalling block system and uses Sistema Controllo Marcia Treno (SCMT) throughout. The SCMT equipment was activated in sections: on 24 October 2021 between Piazza al Serchio and Aulla, on 27 June 2022 between Lucca and Fornaci di Barga and finally on 1 September 2022 between Piazza al Serchio and Fornaci di Barga with the subsequent decommissioning of the previous Sistema Supporto Condotta SSC earth subsystem.

History

The line opened in various stages:

• 15 February 1892: Lucca–Ponte a Moriano
• 15 July 1898: Ponte a Moriano–Borgo a Mozzano
• 8 June 1899: Borgo a Mozzano–Bagni di Lucca
• 27 July 1911: Bagni di Lucca–Castelnuovo di Garfagnana
• 4 December 1911: Aulla–Gragnola
• 25 March 1912: Gragnola–Monzone
• 1 August 1930: Monzone–Equi Terme
• 21 April 1940: Castelnuovo di Garfagnana–Piazza al Serchio
• 3 February 1944: Minucciano–Equi Terme
• 21 March 1959: Piazza al Serchio–Minucciano

A further modification to the line was made on 18 February 2008 with the opening of new tracks between Pallerone and Aulla Lunigiana linking up with Parma–La Spezia railway.

External links

Media related to Aulla–Lucca railway at Wikimedia Commons