The Bari–Taranto railway is an Italian long

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line, that connects

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

with

Gioia del Colle Gioia del Colle (; Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. The town is located on the Murge plateau at above sea level, between the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. Physical geography Territory ...

and

Taranto Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

. The line was opened in two stages between 1865 and 1868. On 1 June 1865 the section from Bari to Gioia del Colle opened; the line was further extended on 15 September 1868 to Taranto.

Route upgrade

Work has been carried out to upgrade and double the line since 1994. The first section opened on 31 May 1994 between Acquaviva delle Fonti and Bitetto. On 14 September 1997 the double track between

and

Palagianello Palagianello (Tarantino: or or ) is a small town in the province of Taranto, Apulia, southeastern Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in th ...

opened. The line was rerouted which saw the closure of stations in Caratini, San Basilio and in Castellaneta town centre. On 20 December 2004 the line was doubled between Acquaviva delle Fonti and Gioia del Colle, and on 27 May 2007 between

Palagiano Palagiano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Taranto, Apulia, southeast Italy. It is known as the "City of the Clementines" due to its production of the PGI product "Clementine del Golfo di Taranto A clementine (''Citrus × clementi ...

and Bellavista. On 22 June 2008 the line was doubled between Grottalupara and Palagiano, which included a new alignment avoiding the centre of Palagianello and the opening of a new station. On 31 May 2009 the line was doubled between

Centrale and Bari Sant'Andrea, which led to the closure of Bari Policlinico station. The southern section of the line was also doubled in 2010. The final section, between

Modugno Modugno ( Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, southern Italy. Before the 1970s this town was mainly dedicated to agriculture; since construction of an industrial zone, it has become an important factory s ...

and Bitetto will be realigned and doubled in 2014.

Usage

The line is used by the following service(s): *High speed services (''Frecciabianca'') Milan - Parma - Bologna - Ancona - Pescara - Foggia - Bari - Taranto *Intercity services Rome - Foggia - Bari - Taranto *Intercity services Bologna - Rimini - Ancona - Pescara - Foggia - Bari - Taranto *Night train (''Intercity Notte'') Milan - Ancona - Pescara - Foggia - Bari - Taranto - Brindisi - Lecce *Local services (''Treno regionale'') Bari - Gioia del Colle - Taranto *Local services (''Treno regionale'') Gravina in Puglia - Altamura - Gioia del Colle - Taranto

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * *

External links