Potenza Centrale railway station ( it, Stazione di Potenza Centrale), formerly known as Potenza Inferiore, is the main station serving the city and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' of

Potenza Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one ...

, in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Basilicata it, Lucano (man) it, Lucana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

. Opened in 1880, it forms part of the Battipaglia–Potenza–Metaponto railway and is also a

junction Junction may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junction'' (film), a 2012 American film * Jjunction, a 2002 Indian film * Junction (album), a 1976 album by Andrew Cyrille * Junction (EP), by Basement Jaxx, 2002 * Junction (manga), or ''Hot ...

of a branch line to Foggia.

Overview

The station is currently managed by

Rete Ferroviaria Italiana Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) is the Italian railway infrastructure manager, subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), a state-owned holding company. RFI is the owner of Italy's railway network, it provides signalling, maintenance and other ser ...

(RFI). However, the commercial area of the passenger building is managed by

Centostazioni ( en, 100 Stations) is a subsidiary of Italian holding company Ferrovie dello Stato. The company was created to redevelop and manage 103 medium-sized Italian railway stations. History The company was founded in 2001 as ' ( en, Medium Stations ...

. Standard gauge train services are operated by

Trenitalia Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government, the company was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail transp ...

. Each of these companies is a subsidiary of

Ferrovie dello Stato Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

(FS), Italy's state-owned rail company. Narrow gauge train services to the nearby station of "Potenza Inferiore" are operated by '' Ferrovie Appulo Lucane'', a separate company. Another nearby station is "Potenza Inferiore Scalo". Both stations are operated by the local suburban railway.

Location

Potenza Centrale railway station is situated in Piazzale

Guglielmo Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquis of Marconi (; 25 April 187420 July 1937) was an Italians, Italian inventor and electrical engineering, electrical engineer, known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based Wireless telegrap ...

, to the south of the city centre.

History

The station was opened on 1 September 1880, upon the inauguration of the

Picerno Picerno is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the ''comuni'' of Balvano, Baragiano, Potenza, Ruoti Ruoti ( Ruotese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Pot ...

–Potenza section of the Battipaglia–Potenza–Metaponto railway, a line linking it directly with

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

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 ...

. Until 10 December 2006, it was named ''Statione di Potenza Inferiore'', as it is in the lower elevations of the city, adjacent to the

Basento The Basento (Latin ''Casuentus'') is a river in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. It rises at Monte Arioso in the southern Apennine Mountains, southwest of Potenza in the province of Potenza. The river flows northeast near Pignola and Pote ...

river.

Features

The passenger building is made up of three conjoined sections, each constructed of brick. The two single storey outer sections extend symmetrically from the two storey central section, which also has a raised facade. Inside the central section are the main entrance, lobby, ticket office and waiting room. The outer sections house other services, including a bar. The station yard has three tracks with platforms for passenger services, and also many other tracks. The passenger building and platform 1 are connected with the other platforms by a pedestrian underpass. To the east, towards

Metaponto Metaponto is a small town of about 1,000 people in the province of Matera, Basilicata, Italy. Administratively it is a frazione of Bernalda. History The town was built by the ancient Greeks to defend Sybaris from the growth of Taranto. A 1 k ...

, there is a small locomotive shed with refueling facilities. In the other direction, towards

Battipaglia Battipaglia () is a municipality (''comune'') in the province of Salerno, Campania, south-western Italy. Famed as a production place of buffalo mozzarella, Battipaglia is the economic hub of the Sele plain. History Formerly part of the ancien ...

, there are several small buildings used for various technical purposes, and above them the concrete Musmeci viaduct, which provides road access to the city. The station has recently been the subject of a redevelopment project under the Centostazioni program. It will shortly also undergo work on its connection with the bus routes in Via Nazario Sauro, through a line of escalators and underground passageways.

Train services

The station has about 950,000 passenger movements each year. Some of the trains that stop at the station provide long distance links with major cities such as

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, and also with the region of

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

. The more common

regional trains Regional rail, also known as local trains and stopping trains, are public transport, passenger rail transport, rail services that operate between towns and cities. These trains operate with more stops over shorter distances than inter-city rail ...

link Potenza with closer destinations, including

Melfi Melfi (Neapolitan language, Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. Geographically, it is midway between Naples and Bari. In 2015 it had a population of 17,7 ...

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

and

. The station is served by the following service(s): *Intercity services Rome - Naples - Salerno - Taranto *Regional services (''Treno regionale'') Naples - Salerno - Potenza - Metaponto - Taranto *Regional services (''Treno regionale'') Foggia - Melfi - Potenza

References

External links

Description and pictures of Potenza Centrale railway station
''This article is based upon a translation of the Italian language version as at December 2010.'' {{Italian railway stations

Railway station 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 ...

Railway stations in Basilicata Railway stations opened in 1880 Buildings and structures in the Province of Potenza