The Lucca-Aulla railway also known as the Garfagnana railway is an Italian railway

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

. Running from the city of

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

the line crosses the

Garfagnana The Garfagnana () is a historical and geographical region of central Italy, today part of the province of Lucca, in Tuscany. It is the upper valley or basin of the river Serchio, and thus lies between the main ridge of the Northern Apennines ...

and

Lunigiana The Lunigiana () or Lunesana is a historical territory of Italy that today falls within the provinces of Massa Carrara, Tuscany, and La Spezia, Liguria. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, ...

regions to join the Parma–La Spezia railway in

Aulla Aulla is a ''comune'' in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in the valley of the Magra, River Magra. Geology In 1977, the Italian geologist Augusto Azzaroli discovered a series of mammal rests with a correl ...

. The railway is managed by

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

(RFI) and passenger traffic is operated by

Trenitalia Trenitalia Società per azioni, SpA is the primary train operator of Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government. It was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulati ...

, both of which are subsidiaries of Italy's state-owned rail company

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 ...

(FS).

Route

The railway begins at

Lucca railway station Lucca railway station (Italian: ''Stazione di Lucca'') is the principal railway station serving the city of Lucca, in Tuscany, central Italy. It is located on the Viareggio–Florence railway and serves both as a through station and a terminus. Be ...

, crossing the Via Pesciatina, which until 1957 housed the metric gauge track of the Lucca–Monsummano electric tramway to

Pescia Pescia () is an Italian city in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in a central zone between the cities Lucca and Florence, on the banks of the river of the same name. History Archaeological excavations have suggest ...

. After passing the suburb of San Pietro a Vico the line reaches Ponte a Moriano, the terminus of the first stretch of the railway to be built and once home to a both a factory connected to the railway station as well as the Lucca–Ponte a Moriano steam tramway. In almost flat territory the line passes the now-closed Piaggione station and another siding, this time to a factory owned by Italian paper company Lucart. The railway calls at two stations serving the town of

Borgo a Mozzano Borgo a Mozzano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy), located on the Serchio River. History The town is mentioned for the first time in 879, when a document mentioned one place ''In loco Mozzano prope De ...

before passing under a purpose-built fornix in the

Ponte della Maddalena Ponte della Maddalena is a bridge crossing the Serchio river near the town of Borgo a Mozzano in the Italian province of Lucca. It's one of numerous medieval bridges known as ''Ponte del Diavolo'', the " Bridge of the Devil", it was a vital riv ...

and following the

Serchio The Serchio (; ) is the third longest river in the Italian region of Tuscany at , coming after the Arno at and the Ombrone, . By mean rate of flow, it is the second largest, smaller than Arno but larger than Ombrone. The principal source forms ...

river to the spa town of

Bagni di Lucca Bagni di Lucca (formerly Bagno a Corsena) is a comune of Tuscany, Italy, in the Province of Lucca with a population of about 6,100. The comune has 27 named frazioni (wards). History Bagni di Lucca has been known for its thermal springs since the ...

. Passing two disused stations, and a junction leading to a

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

, the line continues to Fornaci di Barga railway station where further sidings previously served the Europa Metalli plant now operated by

KME Group The KME Group is a manufacturer of metal products, primarily copper. Their products included rolled copper, copper tubes, bars, and cables. They are stated to be one of the world's largest copper producers. It was formed from the merging of seve ...

. Two further stops serve the town of Barga: Barga-Gallicano railway station and

Castelvecchio Pascoli railway station Castelvecchio Pascoli railway station () is a railway station located in the Tuscany region of central Italy serving Castelvecchio Pascoli. The station is situated in the Ponte di Campia ''frazione'', on the east bank of the Serchio river. Built ...

, the latter named for the famous Italian poet

Giovanni Pascoli Giovanni Placido Agostino Pascoli (; 31 December 1855 – 6 April 1912) was an Italian poet, classical scholar and an emblematic figure of Italian literature in the late nineteenth century. Alongside Gabriele D'Annunzio, he was one of the grea ...

. The line continues uphill serving stops at Fosciandora-Ceserana, Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, Villetta San Romano, Poggio-Careggine-Vagli and Camporgiano. Arriving at

Piazza al Serchio Piazza al Serchio is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lucca in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northwest of Florence and about northwest of Lucca. Piazza al Serchio borders the following municipalities: Camporgiano, Min ...

the line comes to the outer reaches of the

region from which it takes its traditional name. In memory of the

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

s that formerly operated on the Lucca–Aulla railway, an FS Class 940 locomotive is preserved here as a monument. From here the railway passes through the Lupacino tunnel which at is the longest of the line. Onwards to Minucciano-Pieve-Casola and the town of Equi Terme the line reaches the steepest incline of its route heading onwards to Monzone-Monte dei Bianchi-Isolano. Heading onwards through the Lunigiana further stops pass through Gragnola and on through the territory of

Fivizzano Fivizzano is a ''comune'' in the province of Massa and Carrara, Tuscany, central Italy. History It became part of the Republic of Florence in the 15th century thus gaining the Tuscan republic an important foothold in Lunigiana, a key region whi ...

with stops at Rometta-Soliera and Gassano. From here the line passes former explosives factory sidings to enter a new track layout introduced in 2008 to reach the end of the line at

Technical specification

The line is non-electrified single-track and operates under a remotely managed control system based in

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

. It is equipped with an electric

signalling block system Signalling block systems enable the safe and efficient operation of railways by preventing collisions between trains. The basic principle is that a track is broken up into a series of sections or "blocks". Only one train may occupy a block at ...

and uses

Sistema Controllo Marcia Treno Sistema di Controllo della Marcia del Treno (SCMT) is a discontinuous train cab signalling system used in Italy. It shares many features with the Ripetizione Segnali (RS) system, the two systems co-existing and working together. The main pur ...

(SCMT) throughout. The SCMT equipment was activated in sections: on 24 October 2021 between

and

, on 27 June 2022 between

and Fornaci di Barga and finally on 1 September 2022 between Piazza al Serchio and Fornaci di Barga with the subsequent decommissioning of the previous Sistema Supporto Condotta SSC earth subsystem.

History

The line opened in various stages: * 15 February 1892: Lucca–Ponte a Moriano * 15 July 1898: Ponte a Moriano–Borgo a Mozzano * 8 June 1899: Borgo a Mozzano–Bagni di Lucca * 27 July 1911: Bagni di Lucca–Castelnuovo di Garfagnana * 4 December 1911: Aulla–Gragnola * 25 March 1912: Gragnola–Monzone * 1 August 1930: Monzone–Equi Terme * 21 April 1940: Castelnuovo di Garfagnana–Piazza al Serchio * 3 February 1944: Minucciano–Equi Terme * 21 March 1959: Piazza al Serchio–Minucciano A further modification to the line was made on 18 February 2008 with the opening of new tracks between Pallerone and Aulla Lunigiana linking up with Parma–La Spezia railway.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lucca-Aulla railway Railway lines in Tuscany Railway lines opened in 1892