Naples–Foggia railway

The Naples–Foggia railway is an Italian railway line connecting Naples, in Campania, with Foggia, in Apulia, crossing the Apennines at the saddle of Ariano through a series of tunnels.

Naples–Foggia railway
Overview
Owner	RFI
Locale	Apulia, Campania, Italy
Termini	Napoli Centrale Foggia
Service
Operator(s)	Trenitalia
History
Opened	1867
Technical
Line length	194 km (121 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	3000 V DC
Route map km elev 197.540 Napoli Centrale 13 m from Salerno from Rome (via Cassino) A56 188.551 Casoria-Afragola 63 m Casoria (old) Naples–Caivano tramway Naples–Frattamaggiore tramway 183.819 Frattamaggiore-Grumo Nevano 52 m 182.114 Sant'Antimo-Sant'Arpino 51 m 1928 deviation 178.320 Aversa 38 m from Rome (via Formia) from Villa Literno 174.660 Gricignano 20 m to Maddaloni-Marcianise marshalling yard 168.941 Marcianise 29 m 165.720 Recale 53 m A1 – E45 from Rome (via Cassino) 163.400 Caserta end of double track 61 m to Naples (via Cancello) 155.801 Maddaloni Superiore 141 m 150.668 Valle di Maddaloni 103 m 144.228 Frasso Telesino-Dugenta 53 m 137.623 Amorosi-Melizzano 40 m to Telese Bagni, closed 1959 132.788 Telese-Cerreto 51 m 128.648 Solopaca 57 m 120.815 San Lorenzo Maggiore 74 m 116.562 Ponte-Casalduni 111.700 108.235 Mascambroni tunnel 107.080 Vitulano-Foglianise (closed 2000) beginning of double track 110 m 106.394 San Vitale tunnel (4164 m) Vitulano-Foglianise (old) 102.230 EAV line from Cancello 101.058 100.859 Benevento 122 m to Cancello / to Campobasso Calore Irpino Calore Irpino 94.729 Paduli sul Calore 138 m 88.920 Apice tunnel 87.758 Apice-Sant'Arcangelo-Bonito (end of double track) 158 m 82.688 Corsano 190 m 73.902 Montecalvo-Buonalbergo-Casalbore 273 m 71.124 Cristina tunnel (1433 m) 69.691 69.508 Castelfranco in Miscano (opened 1939) 354 m 69.331 Starza tunnel (2600 m) 66.731 62.654 Ariano Irpino 479 m 61.388 Ariano tunnel (3205 m) 58.183 58.075 Pianerottolo d'Ariano 547 m 52.367 Savignano-Greci 474 m 46.076 Montaguto-Panni 395 m Campania Apulia border 42.229 Orsara di Puglia 359 m 40.129 Colle Lamia tunnel Bovino-Deliceto (old, closed 2016) 33.070 32.754 Bovino-Deliceto start of double track 260 m 29.490 beginning of Ponte Albanito deviation (opened 2016) 26.538 26.230 Troia-Castelluccio Sauri (closed 2016) 201 m 25.487 end of Ponte Albanito deviation (opened 2016) 24.768 24.460 beginning of Cervaro deviation (opened 2012) 16.450 Ponte Albanito (old) 16.125 Ponte Albanito 124 m from Potenza 8.647 Cervaro (closed 2012) 79 m end of Cervaro deviation (opened 2012) old line closed 2016 7.923 P.M. Cervaro (crossing loop opened 2012) 6.211 2.950 Cervaro link double track 1941–1964 single track since 2015 from Bari from Manfredonia 0.000 Foggia 64 m to Pescara km Source: Italian railway atlas

The railway infrastructure is managed by the Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, which classifies it as one of its primary lines. It is part of a westward extension of Pan-European Corridor VIII.

It is being developed as a line with features of high-speed rail with the doubling of single-track sections and the raising of line speeds to between 180 km/h and 200 km/h. These improvements are intended to allow connections between Naples and Bari in two hours and between Rome and Bari in three hours in 2026.

History

Construction

Section	Opened
Bovino–Foggia	27 January 1867
Naples–Caserta	7 May 1867
Caserta–Casalduni	15 March 1868
Casalduni–Benevento	18 April 1868
Benevento–Santo Spirito	1 August 1868
Savignano–Bovino	1 August 1868
Starza–Pianerottolo	25 January 1869
Savignano–Pianerottolo	12 June 1869
Santo Spirito–Starza	26 May 1870
Telese–Telese Bagni branch	15 July 1883

The Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali ("Company for the Southern Railways") obtained a concession for the construction and operation of a railway that linked the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Sea, connecting Foggia to Naples, under the "Bastogi" law of 1862 that enabled the foundation of the company (law no. 763).

In the previous decade, a railway project to connect Caserta with Foggia, taking advantage of the just completed Rome–Cassino–Naples railway, had been proposed to the government of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The project subsequently collapsed due to political and financial problems. However the Società Meridionali preferred to resume that project rather than build a new line that started from Naples and crossed the Valle Caudina. Work began at both ends of the line.

The first section to be opened for operation was between Bovino and Foggia, on 27 January 1867, followed by several sections in the following year: Caserta–Casalduni (15 March), Casalduni–Benevento (18 April), Savignano–Bovino and Benevento–Santo Spirito (1 August). In 1869, these were followed by the sections between Starza and Pianerottolo (25 January) and between Pianerottolo and Savignano (12 June). The line was completed on 26 May 1870 with the opening of the section between Santo Spirito and Starza.

On the night of 29–30 September 1889 the line was the site of the Pianerottolo d'Ariano accident which caused two deaths and seven serious injuries due to a head-on collision between two trains inside the Ariano tunnel.

The Ferrovie dello Stato took over the operation of the line following the nationalisation of the railways, including the lines built by the Società Meridionale, in 1906.

Electrification

The newly electrified Ariano Irpino station

The Benevento–Foggia section was the first line to be electrified at 3000 volts DC. The piling and the catenary were installed between 1926 and 1928. Test runs began in September 1927, with trains pulled by FS Class E.626 electric locomotives. Regular electric operations began on 1 March 1928. Electrification was extended to Caserta and Naples in 1931.

Track duplication

Duplication of the line began in the 1990s. The new section between Vitulano and Apice was opened on 3 December 1997, replacing a more tortuous route. On the same day, the old Vitulano station, which was on the old route, was closed and replaced by the new Vitulano station, which has also since closed.

Adaptation of the whole line to "high capacity" (Alta Capacità) standards by 2026 is under way on several sections.

In July 2015, a link was activated that allows a direct connect to the Adriatic railway without reversal in Foggia.

In addition, a deviation was opened that connects Bovino with Foggia without passing through Cervaro station, which is now only used as a crossing loop. Work on the first segment (18.5 km) was completed in December 2012, while the entire section (23 km) was completed in 2016 and opened on 28 June 2017.

Construction works near Valle di Maddaloni in 2020

Further work is planned as follows:

• the reconstruction of the section of the Rome–Cassino–Naples railway from Naples to Cancello, which will now pass through Napoli Afragola;
• the construction of a new double track section between Cancello and Frasso Telesino-Dugenta. This new cut-off will mean that trains running from Naples to Foggia via Cancello (and vice versa) will not have to reverse in Caserta or pass through the municipality of Maddaloni;
• the doubling of the existing section between Frasso Telesino and Vitulano, together with any changes to the track necessary to achieve the "high capacity" standard;
• the adaptation of the already double-track section between Vitulano and Apice to the "high capacity" standard;
• the construction of a double-track deviation passing south of the current line. The new route will start from the now closed Apice station and will go up the Ufita river to the Santa Sofia plain (in the municipal area of Ariano Irpino) where a new station called "Hirpinia" will be built, serving the district and the industrial area of the Ufita valley. The line will continue north, crossing the Apennine watershed through an approximately 25 km-long tunnel: it will come to the surface in the Cervaro valley near Montaguto and then rejoin the current line near Orsara di Puglia station;
• the construction of a new double-track line parallel to the current one between Orsara di Puglia and Bovino;
• the adaptation to the "high capacity" standard of the Cervaro–Foggia section which, like the Vitulano–Apice section (to be adapted for higher speeds) and the Bovino–Cervaro section (already completed), already has two tracks.

Standards

The railway is single track with the exception of the Naples–Caserta, Vitulano–Benevento–Apice and Bovino–Foggia sections. The line is electrified at 3000 volts DC.

Traffic control

Railway traffic on the section between Caserta and Cervaro is regulated by an operations centre manager (Dirigente Centrale Operativo) based in Napoli Centrale, while between Cervaro and Foggia, operations are entrusted to local station masters.

Rail traffic

Most passenger traffic is carried by medium to long distance trains, with 10 ETR 485 Frecciargento services serving Caserta, Benevento and Foggia, and four InterCity services that also stop in Telese-Cerreto and Ariano Irpino.

Regional traffic between Caserta and Benevento is modest and was initially operated by Aln 663 and 668 railcars, and by low-floor carriages hauled by E.464 locomotives, with the addition of the Minuetto diesel multiple units in 2004. In 2015 a pair of Jazz electric multiple units entered service on the Naples–Benevento section, together with a pair of Swing diesel multiple units on the Benevento–Caserta–Campobasso route.

The Benevento–Foggia section has had no local services since 2010, therefore all the stations on the section (with the exception of Ariano Irpino, which are served by four InterCity services) still exist but are unused.

References

Sources

• Cornolò, Giovanni (2008). Dall'E.626 all'Eurostar. 1928-2008: ottant'anni di locomotive elettriche FS (in Italian). Parma: Ermanno Albertelli.
• Maggi, Stefano (2007). Le ferrovie (in Italian). Bologna: Il Mulino. p. 179. ISBN 978-88-15-12391-6.
• RFI, ed. (December 2003). Fascicolo Linea 126 (Vezzano–Parma) (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. pp. 71–96.
• RFI, ed. (December 2003). Fascicolo Linea 134 (Cervaro–Foggia) (in Italian). Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. pp. 51–62.
• 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 13 August 2018.
• Atlante ferroviario d'Italia e Slovenia [Railway atlas of Italy and Slovenia]. Schweers + Wall. 2010. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1.