Mendrisio–Varese railway

Mendrisio–Varese railway
Mendrisio–Varese railway
Overview
Status	in use
Owner	Rete Ferroviaria Italiana; Swiss Federal Railways;
Locale	Ticino, Switzerland; Lombardy, Italy;
Termini	Mendrisio; Varese;
History
Opened	June 28, 1926
Technical
Line length	17.607 km (10.940 mi)
Number of tracks	1
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	15 kV AC 16.7 Hz (Switzerland); 3000 V DC (Italy);
Route map
Route map
	Legend
	Switzerland
	Italy
	6.5
	11.0
	Switzerland
	Italy
	Porto Ceresio–Milan railway
	to Porto Ceresio
	Saronno–Laveno railway
	to Saronno
	Saronno–Laveno railway
	to Laveno
	Gallarate–Varese railway
	to Gallarate
	This diagram: view; talk; edit;

The Mendrisio–Varese railway is a railway line in southern Ticino, Switzerland, and northern Lombardy, Italy. It connects the towns of Mendrisio and Varese, crossing the Italy–Switzerland border.

History

It was opened in 1926 as part of the international Valmorea railway, but only two years later the border crossing was closed by the Italian government, which didn't agree with a privately owned international connection (the Italian section of the line was operated by Ferrovie Nord Milano).

The Swiss section remained active, but lost passenger service and was from then used only as a freight railway for the industries around Stabio.

Since 1993 the line is also used by touristic trains on the re-opened line to Malnate.

A new branch, the Arcisate–Stabio railway, was recently constructed, connecting Varese to Mendrisio, and therefore to Lugano and Como.^[1] The 3,5 km section between Mendrisio and Stabio reopened to passenger trains in December 2014, the rest of the line in January 2018.

Notes

^ LA FMV in breve Archived 2013-06-26 at the Wayback Machine

References

Ladavas, Paolo; Mentesana, Fabio (2000). Valle Olona Valmorea. Due nomi, una storia. La ferrovia Castellanza-Mendrisio. Editoriale del Garda. ISBN 88-85105-08-4.

External links

[1] LA FMV in breve Archived 2013-06-26 at the Wayback Machine

[1]