Battipaglia–Metaponto railway

The Battipaglia–Metaponto railway is an Italian 198-kilometre (123-mile) long railway line, that connects Rome, Naples and Battipaglia with Potenza, Metaponto and Taranto. It is a commonly used trans-apennine linkage.

Battipaglia–Metaponto railway
Overview
Status	in use
Owner	RFI
Line number	124
Locale	Italy
Termini	Battipaglia railway station Metaponto railway station
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	Trenitalia
History
Opened	In stages between 1863 (1863) and 1880 (1880)
Technical
Line length	198 km (123 mi)
Number of tracks	Single track
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Electrified at 3000 V DC
Route map km elev from Salerno Battipaglia to Reggio Calabria Eboli Campagna-Serre-Persano Tuoro-Serradarce Ceglie Messapica Sicignano degli Alburni to Lagonegro Buccino-San Gregorio Magno Ponte San Cono Romagnano-Vietri-Salvitelle Balvano-Ricigliano Bella Muro Baragiano-Ruoti Franciosa Picerno Tito Potenza Centrale to Foggia Vaglio Basilicata Brindisi di Montagna Trivigno Albano di Lucania Campomaggiore-Pietrapertosa Calciano Grassano-Garaguso-Tricarico Salandra-Grottole from Matera Ferrandina-Pomarico-Miglionico Pisticci Bernalda from Reggio Calabria Metaponto to Taranto km Source: Italian railway atlas

History

The line was opened in stages between 1863 and 1880.

Date	Section
14 June 1863	Battipaglia - Eboli
1 December 1874	Eboli- Contursi
15 June 1875	Metaponto - Pisticci
30 September 1875	Contursi–Romagnano
15 November 1875	Pisticci–Ferrandina
10 April 1876	Ferrandina–Grassano
3 June 1877	Romagnano–Balvano
1 August 1877	Grassano–Calciano
6 November 1877	Balvano–Baragiano
15 January 1880	Baragiano–Picerno
1 September 1880	Picerno–Potenza
27 December 1880	Potenza–Calciano

In 1944 the deadliest accident in Italian railway history, the 8017 convoy Battipaglia-Potenza, happened on this line with over 500 victims.

Upgrades

Between 1986 and 1993 the railway was closed to allow for major works to upgrade the line, during which it was electrified. Electric trains however did not start using the line until 31 March 1994. In 1995 a service was launched using Eurostar ETR 450.

Usage

The line is used by the following service(s):

• Intercity services Rome - Naples - Salerno - Potenza - Taranto
• Regional services (Treno regionale) Naples - Salerno - Potenza - Metaponto - Taranto

References

Sources

• RFI, ed. (December 2003). Fascicolo Linea 124 (Battipaglia–Metaponto) (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana.
• 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 18 August 2018.
• Atlante ferroviario d'Italia e Slovenia [Railway atlas of Italy and Slovenia]. Schweers + Wall. 2010. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1.

See also

• List of railway lines in Italy