Bike paths on unused railroads – “Rails to Trails”
After the second world war, especially during the 1950’s and 1960’s, many local railroads, mostly running on a single track, were decommissioned and “abandoned to the winds of time” pushed out by the automobile boom and under pressure from the automotive-gasoline lobby (or to put it another way, the growing dictatorship of the automobile).
Starting during the 1980’s and 1990’s the idea began to spread to use these abandoned rights-of-way to develop bike trails. Bike paths built in this manner have become increasingly prevalent. I have singled out the following bike paths in Italy that I know from personal experience:
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The long route of the Dolomites, begun in 2003, on the roadbed of the former Dolomites railroad, which was decommissioned during the 1960’s; with the completion of the last sections near Cortina in 2012, it is now 99% complete.
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The Mantova-Peschiera bike route, built on the site of the former railroad with the same name; 100% complete.
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The Alpe-Adria bike route between Carnia and Tarvisio, built on the roadbed of the former Pontebbana railroad, decommissioned in 2001, when a new double-track alignment, running mostly through tunnels, was developed. Still incomplete with many gaps.
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The Tarvisio-Jesenice bike route, built on the route of the former (*)Rudolfian railroad between Tarvisio and Lubiana, which was decommissioned between Tarvisio and Jesenice. The final section to Mojstrana is still in the planning stage.
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The Treviso-Ostiglia bike route, built on the roadbed of the former railroad of the same name; the reconstruction project supported by (*)FIAB and many local organizations, is nearly complete in the provinces of Treviso and Padova, and still in the planning stage in the provinces
of Vicenza and Verona.
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The Vicenza-Noventa Vicentina bike route, built on the roadbed of the former Vicenza-Montagnana railroad; the first segment from Vicenza to Longare had existed for many years; during 2012 the route was completed as far as Noventa.
References and links
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Giulia Cortesi and Umberto Rovaldi, Dalle rotaie alle bici [From rails to bikes], Milano 2011, FIAB Centrostudi. In Italian.
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English translation by courtesy of Richard Bosch, Architect, Portland, OR.
Translation is work in progress. A few pages are still in Italian.
Original text and photos are by Paolo Bonavoglia
(E-Mail: paolo.bonavoglia@aruba.it) and may be used freely but only for non-commercial purposes and with an explicit and visible link to this site.
The logo picture was taken in Vicenza, in front of Palladio's Villa la Rotonda in 2011.
The adjective Rudolfian refers to the fact that this railroad was realized in 1870 by the Kaiserlich-königliche privilegierte Kronprinz Rudolf-Bahn Gesellschaft the railway firm of Austria Crown Prince Rudolf of Habsburg, the son of Emperor Franz Josef.
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Federazione Italiana Amici della Bicicletta [the Italian Federation of Friends of the Bicycle]
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