Genoa (Genova): Railways and Tramways

[rogerfarnworth]

In November 2024, my wife and I spent a few days in Genoa and surveyed a lot of the local railways. This first article is about the Funicular Railways in the city.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/11/13/genoa-funicular-railways/

[rogerfarnworth]

The Principe–Granarolo Rack Railway (Ferrovia Principe-Granarolo) is a rack railway that connects Via del Lagaccio, near the Genoa Piazza Principe railway station, to the Granarolo hills. The line is sometimes erroneously described as a funicular.  The line is managed by AMT Genova, which manages the city's public transport.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/11/13/genoa-rack-railway-ferrovia-principe-granarolo-genova/

[rogerfarnworth]

Genova (Genoa) - A Telfer

For a very short time Genoa had a Telfer.

'Telfer' or 'Telfere elettrico', was a monorail railway line built in Genoa in 1914, the first of its kind built in Italy. The name was derived from the English term 'telpher'.

This article highlights the short-lived experimental line. ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/11/14/genoa-a-telfer/

[rogerfarnworth]

Genova (Genoa) - La Ferrovia delle Gavette - was an industrial railway in the valley of the Bisagno River (Torrent). The Binario Industriale della Val Bisagno, also known as La Ferrovia delle Gavette, was in use from 1926 until 1965. It was a standard-gauge line and was 4.7km in length. ....

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/11/18/genoa-la-ferrovia-delle-gavette/

[rogerfarnworth]

Genova – Casella Narrow Gauge Railway Part 1 – Genova to Sardorella

The Genova–Casella railway is a 24.3 km narrow gauge railway that connects Genoa to Casella, a village in the mountains inland from the city.

This is the first of two articles about the line. ...

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/11/21/genoa-casella-narrow-gauge-railway-part-1-genova-to-sardorella/

[rogerfarnworth]

Genoa – Casella Narrow Gauge Railway Part 2 – Sardorella to Casella

This article covers the northern half of the line and has a quick look at the motive power and rolling-stock used.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/11/25/genoa-casella-narrow-gauge-railway-part-2-sardorella-to-casella/

[rogerfarnworth]

Genova's Metro

The Metropolitana di Genova is, in 2024, a single-line, double-track light rapid transit system that connects the centre of Genova, Italy with the suburb of Rivarolo Ligure, to the north-west of the city centre. It runs through to Brignole Railway Station in the East of the city. In 2024/5, the service is managed by Azienda Mobilità e Trasporti (AMT), which provides public transport for the city of Genova.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/11/26/genoas-metro/

[rogerfarnworth]

Genoa’s Early Tram Network – Part 1 – General Introduction, Tunnels, The Years before World War One, and the Early Western Network.

Introduction and Early History

We begin this article with a look at maps of the Piazza Raffeale de Ferrari and its immediate environs over the years around the turn of the 20th century. The Piazza became one of two focal points for tramways in the city (the other was Caricamento).

I found the series of maps interesting and they provoked a desire to find out more about the network of horse-drawn and later electric trams and tramways of Genoa. ….

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/03/genoas-early-tram-network-part-1-general-introduction-tunnels-the-years-before-world-war-one-and-the-early-western-network/

[rogerfarnworth]

Genoa’s Early Tram Network – Part 2

In this article we look at the service provided on another large portion of the remainder of the network in the period up to the First World War.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/08/genoas-early-tram-network-part-2-the-western-half-of-the-eastern-network/

[rogerfarnworth]

Genoa's Early Tram Network - Part 3

The Rest of the Eastern Network

The line running from Piazza Corvetto to Prato will be covered in this article, along with those which ran out of Piazza Raffeale de Ferrari along Via XX Settembre.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/14/genoas-early-tram-network-part-3-the-remainder-of-the-eastern-network-before-the-first-world-war/

[rogerfarnworth]

Genoa’s Early Tram Network – Part 4 – World War 1 to World War 2

The first three articles in this series about Genova's Early Tram Network covered the network as it was established by the beginning of the First World War.

We have already noted that there were changes to the network which occurred before WW1, particularly the second line to Piazza Sturla in the East, the additional line to Sampierdarena in the West and the Municipal line to Quezzi in the Northeast.

In this article we look at the network from World War 1 to the beginning of World War 2.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/18/genoas-early-tram-network-part-4-world-war-1-to-world-war-2/

[rogerfarnworth]

Part 5

The Network during World War 2

During the war period, new work was suspended and maintenance was reduced to a minimum; tunnels were used as air raid shelters, and the service schedules were redistributed to avoid the tunnels. Suburban lines acquired considerable importance for the transport of evacuees, especially in the morning and evening. The transport of goods also became important and some older trams were adapted to accommodate the service. Fruit and vegetables were transported to the central market and to the local markets. Building materials for urgent works were carried, as we’re a variety of other goods. Examples of these adapted vehicles can be found close to the end of this article.

After WW2 and the Decline of the Network

The modernization of the tram network, covered in the fourth article in this series, was abruptly interrupted by the Second World War which saw significant damage to the network and rolling stock. After the War the Littorio depot-workshop was renamed for ‘Romeo Guglielmetti’, a tram driver and martyr of the partisan resistance.

The poor condition of much of the network resulted in trams being restricted to main arteries and the introduction of trolleybuses on the rest of the network. Trolleybuses were trailed in 1938 but it was 1949 before planned introduction occurred. obsolescence and degradation of large parts of the network were the reasons that led to the choice of maintaining the tram only on the ‘main lines’, introducing tolleybuses as replacements for the tram on the secondary lines. In reality the project had already begun before the conflict (the first trolleybuses had been activated in 1938), but only in 1949 was the decision planned in detail.

Trams were removed from the central area of the city where trolleybuses were perceived, not being tied to tracks, to be more flexible and better able to negotiate heavy traffic. The lines in the hills were also converted to a trolleybus service (the rubber-wheeled vehicles, having greater grip, guaranteed quicker restarts and with less energy expenditure.

The result of these changes was effectively to create two different networks (East and West), linked only by a line along the coast as shown on the map below which shows the tram network as it existed in 1956.

http://rogerfarnworth.com/2024/12/21/genoas-early-tram-network-part-5-world-war-2-to-its-decline-and-closure-in-the-1960s-and-the-rolling-stock-used-on-the-network/