Type Heavy rail Stations 18 station, 8 stops Number of tracks 2 | Status in use Line length 153 km (95 mi) | |
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Opened 1 July 1859 (1859-07-01) | ||
The Turin–Milan railway is a major Italian railway that links the cities of Turin and Milan. The railway is double track, standard gauge and fully electrified at 3 kV DC. It connects the cities of Settimo Torinese, Chivasso, Santhià, Vercelli, Novara, Magenta and Rho. Since February 2006 high-speed trains have operated over the Turin–Milan high-speed line between Turin and Novara. The remainder of the high-speed line between Novara and Milan is expected to be opened in December 2009, when the Bologna–Florence high-speed line and the remaining sections of the Rome–Naples high-speed railway line and the Naples–Salerno high-speed line are also expected to open, completing the high-speed network between Turin and Salerno.
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Construction and opening
The line was built by Thomas Brassey under contract to the Società Vittorio Emanuele ("Victor Emmanuel Company", named in honour of Victor Emmanuel II, then king of Piedmont and Sardinia) and opened between Turin and Novara on 20 October 1856 and extended to the Ticino River—which formed the boundary between Piedmont and the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia (then part of the Austrian Empire)—on 18 October 1858. The bridge over the river connecting to the existing railway from Milan at Magenta was opened on 1 June 1859.
Battle of Magenta
Three days later the French-Sardinian army led by Napoleon III defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Magenta with the help of supplies brought by the new railway. This was a major step in the unification of Italy.
Ownership changes
It was part of the Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (Upper Italian Railways) from 1865, the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo (Mediterranean Railway Company) from 1885 and Ferrovie dello Stato from 1905.