Siena–Chiusi railway

The Siena–Chiusi railway is a railway line in Italy.

Siena–Chiusi railway
Overview
Status	in use
Owner	Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
Locale	Tuscany, Italy
Termini	Siena Chiusi
Service
Type	Heavy rail
Operator(s)	Trenitalia
History
Opened	24 July 1862
Technical
Line length	89 km (55 mi)
Number of tracks	1 (Siena–P.M. Montallese) 2 (P.M. Montallese–Chiusi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	P.M. Montallese–Chiusi
Operating speed	140 km/h (87 mph)
Route map km Empoli–Siena railway to Empoli 253.042 Siena Siena–Grosseto railway to Grosseto 243.328 Arbia 236.410 Castelnuovo Berardenga 223.575 Asciano-Monte Oliveto Maggiore 221.371 Asciano Asciano–Monte Antico railway to Monte Antico 215.088 Rapolano Terme 202.485 Rigomagno Arezzo–Sinalunga railway to Arezzo 196.683 Sinalunga 190.346 Torrita di Siena 182.865 Montepulciano Florence–Rome HSR to Florence 173.777 9.731 P.M. Montallese Florence–Rome HSR to Rome 0.000 Chiusi-Chianciano Terme Florence–Rome railway ← Rome│Florence → Source: Italian railway atlas

It is currently managed by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, which considers it a complementary line. It is not electrified and single track from Siena to Montallese. The Montallese–Chiusi section forms part of the Chiusi Nord junction of the Florence–Rome high-speed railway and was rebuilt during its construction. The passenger service is provided by Trenitalia.

History

Section	Opened
Siena–Sinalunga	19 September 1859
Sinalunga–Torrita	29 October 1860
Torrita–Salarco	20 October 1861
Salarco–Chiusi	24 July 1862

The construction of the line

In 1851, the company obtained a concession for the extension of the line along the Chiana Valley and started designing the section from Siena to Chiusi. The first stone was laid on 20 May 1854: the Siena–Sinalunga section (58 km) was inaugurated five years later, on 11 September 1859, and operations commenced on 19 September. The Sinalunga–Torrita di Siena section (7 km) was opened on 29 October 1860.

In August 1861, the company obtained an authorisation from the Italian government to continue the Siena–Chiusi line towards Orvieto to connect with the Roma–Foligno line near Orte. The Torrita di Siena–Salarco section (6 km) was opened on 20 October 1861. Salarco station was located near a stream of the same name in the locality of Sciarti, in Abbadia di Montepulciano. An iron bridge with two spans was built to cross the stream—hence the locality is called Ponte di Ferro (iron bridge)—near a monumental brick waterfall (La Serra) built by the engineer Alessandro Manetti in 1849, during land reclamation work in the area. The characteristic nineteenth-century bridge was destroyed during the Second World War, by retreating German troops on 30 June 1944.

It was decided to build a railway yard in the middle of the Val di Chiana to convey the agricultural production of the three most important farms of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in the area: Abbadia di Montepulciano, Chianacce and Acquaviva di Montepulciano. Salarco–Chiusi section (20 km) was opened on 24 July 1862, while the Chiusi–Ficulle section was opened on 15 December of the same year.

From the conventions of 1865 to the establishment of the Ferrovie dello Stato

Under law no. 2272 of 14 May 1865, which reorganised the railway networks in Italy, the concessionary company of the Central Tuscany railway was incorporated into the Società per le strade ferrate romane (Roman Railways), which took over the management of the line and took over the completion of the line to Orte, as well as the construction of a branch from Asciano to Grosseto, completed in 1872. On 24 August 1867, Giuseppe Garibaldi travelled on the line on the last afternoon train and, coming from Rapolano Terme, he stopped at Salarco station, where some police notables were waiting for him and accompanied him by carriage to Montepulciano.

References

Sources

• Atlante ferroviario d'Italia e Slovenia [Railway atlas of Italy and Slovenia]. Schweers + Wall. 2010. ISBN 978-3-89494-129-1.
• Angiolini, Alessandro (2007). La Casa del Popolo e la Casa del Fascio ad Abbadia di Montepulciano (in Italian). I libri di Polis.
• Lazzeri, Luigi, ed. (1862). Siena e il suo territorio [Siena and its territory] (in Italian). Siena: Istituto dei Sordo-Muti.
• 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.

See also

• List of railway lines in Italy

External links

Media related to Siena–Chiusi railway at Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography

• RFI - Fascicolo Linea 98