The Trento–Malé–Mezzana railway () is a
metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways ( US: meter-gauge railways) are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
Metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by several European colonial powers including France, Britain and ...
electric railway
Railway electrification is the use of electric power for the propulsion of rail transport. Electric railways use either electric locomotives (hauling passengers or freight in separate cars), electric multiple units ( passenger cars with their own ...
originally connecting
Trento
Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...
and
Malé
Malé is the capital and most populous city of the Maldives. With a population of 211,908 in 2022 within its administrative area and coterminous geographical area of , Malé is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city i ...
in
Trentino
Trentino (), officially the Autonomous Province of Trento (; ; ), is an Autonomous province#Italy, autonomous province of Italy in the Northern Italy, country's far north. Trentino and South Tyrol constitute the Regions of Italy, region of Tren ...
, northern Italy. In 2002 it was extended to the
Marilleva ski resort in the Italian Alps and in 2016 to
Mezzana. The line has now a total length of . FTM transports 2 million passengers per year along its line, including tourists.
History
In 1891 a proposal for a new railway in Trentino (then part of the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...
was issued by
Paolo Oss Mazzurana, mayor of Trento. Construction began in 1907 and the railway was inaugurated in 1909 as a
narrow-gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
tram
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
way, electrified at 800 V DC (converted to 3,000 V DC in 1964).
After the end of World War I, the Trentino was given to Italy, the railway was acquired by the
Ferrovie dello Stato
Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (; ; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the initialism FS) is Italy's national state-owned enterprise, state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate service ...
, and then established as an independent company in 1936. The line was almost totally rebuilt, shortened by but assuming the character of a true railway without road-embedded sections. In 1945 it passed under a new public company, ''Società Locale Trento Malè'', who controlled it until 2002, when it became part of Trentino trasporti.
Gallery
Image:Ferrovia Trento Malè (Restelli).JPG, Inauguration of the electric railway in Nave San Felice, Lavis (TN), 1909. Portrait by Renato Restelli.
Image:Lavis, stazione tram nel 1915.jpg, Lavis tramway station in 1915
Image:Cles, stazione tranviaria nel 1955.jpg, Cles
Cles (; Nones dialect, Nones: ''Clés'' or ''Cliès'') is a town and ''Communes of Trentino, comune'' in Trentino, in the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region of northern Italy. It is the main town of Val di Non.
It is the main town of and is lo ...
tramway station in 1955
Image:FTM Tw 18.JPG, An old FiReMa E86 and a new ETi 404 at Trento railway station
Image:Mostizzolo ponte ETi 404 20110709.jpg, A train on Mostizzolo railway bridge
Image:Marilleva - stazione ferroviaria.jpg, A train entering Marilleva railway station
External links
Homepage of Trentino TrasportiFTM at Tyrolian Museum Trains
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trento-Male-Mezzana railway
Mountain railways
Railway companies of Italy
Railway lines in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Transport in Trentino
Metre-gauge railways in Italy