Atena Lucana–Marsico Nuovo Railway

The Atena Lucana–Marsico Nuovo railway was a railway line of just over 26 km of the Ferrovie Calabro Lucane, closed just 35 years after its inauguration. The railway straddled the regions of Campania and Basilicata.

History

The special law for Basilicata, approved in 1904, provided for the construction of a railway connection between the Ferrovie dello Stato station of Atena Lucana and Grumo Appula (and from there to Bari) passing through Matera, Pisticci and the valleys of the Calandra, Sauro and Agri rivers; it was also envisaged that the concession of the Sicignano degli Alburni–Lagonegro railway, subject to the installation of a narrow-gauge section, would pass to the concessionaire of the line.

In 1911 the Mediterranea Calabro Lucane (MCL) company obtained the concession for the construction and operation of the line; due to World War I and financial problems, it was not possible to complete the cross-country line between Bari and Atena Lucana, but it was necessary to limit construction, on the Tyrrhenian side, to the single section Atena Lucana–Marsico Nuovo, opened on 28 October 1931: the continuation of the line towards Montalbano Jonico (109 km, passing through Moliterno, San Martino d'Agri, Guardia Perticara and Sant'Arcangelo) was never built.

Damaged during World War II, the line reopened on 2 February 1944. The line had very little traffic from the beginning, with only three runs per day, both because some stations were located far from inhabited centres and because these centres had few inhabitants. A landslide near Pozzi station, which occurred on 20 March 1966, was the pretext for the closure of the line five months later (25 August), as its repair was not considered worthwhile: after only 35 years the railway was closed and dismantled, and a replacement bus service was established.

Characteristics

The line was 26.764 km long, with a narrow gauge of 950 mm and gradients of up to 60 per mille. Significant engineering works were therefore necessary, such as bridges and nine tunnels, one of which was helical – between Pozzi and Brienza stations; one of the three on the entire Calabro-Lucane network – to allow the line to overcome large differences in elevation without the use of a rack railway.

Route

The following table lists the stations and stops of the line, with distances and elevations.

See also

• Rail transport in Italy
• History of rail transport in Italy
• Ferrovie Calabro Lucane

Bibliography