Heritage route
Porrettana Express
Pistoia → Porretta Terme · Italy
View on the map →Wikipedia (IT) ↗
The 1864 Porrettana was Italy’s first railway across the Apennines: E.626-hauled Centoporte coaches now relive its 26 ‰ climb from Pistoia to the spa town of Porretta.
How this line was checked
- Line drawn from OpenStreetMap relation 6628099 — the same nodes OpenStreetMap holds for this railway, thinned to within under 25 m of them
- Checked against OpenStreetMap: the whole line lies on real track, a median 3 m from it
- The operator publishes this line's timetable: Fondazione FS — a place to look it up, not a check of our drawing
- Wikipedia has an article for this line
- See for yourself: open this line on the map with OpenStreetMap's own railway drawn underneath it
Questions and answers
How long is the Porrettana Express?
The Porrettana Express runs 40 km from Pistoia to Porretta Terme.
How long does the Porrettana Express take?
The fastest scheduled journey is 1 h 40 min for the 40 km. That is an average of 24 km/h end to end. The line's top service speed is 60 km/h.
Who runs the Porrettana Express?
Fondazione FS, with E.626 + Centoporte coaches.
How old is the Porrettana Express?
The line has been in service since 1864. That is the year the atlas dates it from: for a modern brand running over an older railway, it is the railway's date, not the brand's.
More heritage routes
- Durango & Silverton
1882 gold-rush narrow gauge: steam-hauled ever since, on the Highline ledge blasted 120 m above the Animas River gorge.
Wikipedia ↗ - La Trochita
Theroux’s Old Patagonian Express: 750 mm gauge, 1922 steam locomotives and wood-stove-heated wooden coaches across the steppe.
Wikipedia ↗ - Sagano Scenic Railway
A retired JR alignment above the Hozugawa rapids: twenty-five slow minutes of maples and gorge that the modern main line skips through tunnels.
Wikipedia ↗ - SL Gunma
Restored D51 498 “Degoichi” and C61 20 haul retro coaches up the Joetsu Line on weekends: steam echoing off the Tone gorge under Tanigawa’s wall.
Wikipedia (JA) ↗
More train routes in Italy.