The Società per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali ( Italian: ''Company for the Southern Railways'', ''SFM'') was an Italian railway company established in 1862. In 1885 it took the control of the so-called "Rete Adriatica" (''Adriatic Network'', ''RA''). In 1905 the Rete Adriatica was absorbed by

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 estate ...

(FS), one year later the FS acquired all the lines of the SFM.

History

The Southern Railways was established in 1862 to build a railway from

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

to Brindisi. Although this was originally a Rothchild's promotion, it was founded as an Italian company led by Count Pietro Bastogi of Livorno. By 1865 it completed its line to Brindisi and it opened a branch from Bari to Taranto in 1868. In the reorganisation of Italian railway concessions on 1 July 1865, it acquired the line from

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

to Ancona and the branch from

Castel Bolognese Castel Bolognese ( rgn, Castël Bulgnés) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ravenna in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about southeast of Bologna and about southwest of Ravenna. As of 2006, it has a population of about ...

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

from the ''General Roman Railway Company''.

Rete Adriatica

In the reorganisation of 1 July 1885 it acquired the lines of the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia to the east of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

, some lines from the Società per le Strade Ferrate Romane (Roman Railways) connecting

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

and Ancona to

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 some branches of the old

Società per le Strade Ferrate Calabro-Sicule The Victor Emmanuel Railway (VER) was created on 25 May 1853 by decree of Victor Emmanuel II, King of Sardinia. After 1865 it took the name of Società per le Strade Ferrate Calabro-Sicule (SFCS). In 1867, the Savoy part of the system was transf ...

in Calabria, now connecting to the Rete Mediterranea. On 1 July 1905 it was nationalised and absorbed into the

Locomotives

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Societa per le Strade Ferrate Meridionali Defunct railway companies of Italy