Bari–Barletta Tramway

The Bari–Barletta tramway was a system built as an economical railway which between 1883 and 1959 characterized part of the ancient Terra di Bari, fostering its economic development.

Built with Italian and Belgian capital, characterized by the unusual gauge of 750 mm and operated with steam traction, the tramway passed through several management companies until it was transformed into the current regional railway.

History

On 4 April 1877, Giuseppe Arnone and Raffaele Di Lorenzo, two engineers also from Trani, submitted a proposal to the Provincial Deputation of Bari for the installation of a horse-drawn railway, subsequently involving the various municipalities in the area. Having obtained their consent, on 5 September of the same year, with agenda item no. 23, the Deputation approved the proposal, and the concession for the line was approved on 15 November.

Arnone and Di Lorenzo therefore stipulated a contract with the Società Generale dei Tramways, a Belgian public limited company established in Brussels on 14 August 1874, together with which they submitted an application to the Deputation to define the terms of the concession, which were established with resolution no. 520 of 30 September 1878, concerning the timetables and fares that would characterize what were then defined as "economical railways"; the signing of the definitive contract took place on the following 1 November. With ministerial decree no. 08972/4087 of 19 September 1879, the Società Generale dei Tramways "was authorized to build and operate the Bari–Barletta tramway".

The construction of the line took place in sections, opened for service in 1882 with the following chronology:

• from Bari to Bitonto on 20 March;
• from Bitonto to Terlizzi on 21 May;
• from Terlizzi to Ruvo on 9 June;
• from Ruvo to Corato and Andria on 30 August;
• from Andria to Barletta on 1 October.

On 24 June 1886, the Società Generale dei Tramways was placed in liquidation, transferring operations to the new Société Anonyme de Chemin de Fer Economiques de Bari-Barletta et extensions, also a Belgian company. On 15 November 1905, the free concession of the line by the Province of Bari was officially transferred; it was succeeded in 1922 by the Società Anonima delle Ferrovie Economiche di Bari-Barletta e diramazioni, a company owned by the previous Belgian one.

Passenger service was initially structured with 4 pairs of trains with travel times of three and a half hours. Freight traffic, which reached peaks of 25,000 tonnes of products per year between 1924 and 1930, mainly consisted of vegetables, fruit and wine, the latter transshipped at Barletta onto FS tank cars.

As early as the first decade of the 20th century, the question of modernizing the rolling stock arose. During the Fascist period, the project to upgrade the railway line with standard-gauge tracks was approved: the relevant agreement was approved with Royal Decree No. 2358 of 17 December 1925. Work began in 1928, but was interrupted in 1934 due to financial difficulties caused by the non-payment of contributions due from the municipalities crossed by the railway under construction.

In 1934, as provided, the Belgian company was placed in liquidation and in 1937 it transferred the concession for operating the tramway and building the railway to a new company based in Rome, Ferrotramviaria Società Anonima Italiana, later transformed into a joint-stock company. The main shareholder of the "Belgian" company from 1932 and among the protagonists of the corporate transfer was the engineer Nicola Romeo, who would become known worldwide for the eponymous automotive brand, then active in the rail transport sector as owner of the Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali; in addition to the Bari–Barletta, he also managed the short Bitonto–Santo Spirito railway, operated by the Società Anonima Ferroviaria, also in liquidation, which would be integrated into the new railway under construction.

With note no. 2052 of 16 February 1955, the Ministry of Transport ordered the definitive closure of the tramway, which was progressively dismantled. The first section to be suppressed was Barletta–Andria, in 1946/47, with a further curtailment to Ruvo in 1953. The last trip was made on 30 May 1959.

Characteristics

The line, with a narrow gauge of 750 mm, was laid with Vignoles rails of 17 kg/m; the maximum gradient was 28 per thousand and the curve radii were not less than 100 m.

The provincial concession imposed a speed of 20 km/h since, in some sections, the route ran alongside houses; this value was almost coincident with the commercial speed recorded on the entire line. In total, the sections on their own right-of-way amounted to 24.2 km.

Route

The Bari tramway station was located in the western district of Mare Isabella, where it occupied an area 400 m long, which also included special sheds for locomotives and carriages.

From here, the track followed the road to Santo Spirito (provincial road 16), which in the urban section is called Via Napoli, until it crossed the Balice stream with a tram bridge and reached the Fesca stop.

Following the alignment of other municipal roads, the stops of Santa Elia, Sant'Angelo and the station of Andria were encountered in succession, then, after crossing the Adriatic railway again via a level crossing, the terminus of Barletta was reached, where the company workshop was located.

Rolling stock

For the operation of the tramway, the Società Generale dei Tramways equipped itself with a fleet of 7 locotenders built between 1880 and 1881 by the Société Anonyme des Atelier St Léonard of Liège, registered as 1÷7, to which two similar units 8÷9 were immediately added. The wheel arrangement of these locomotives with three coupled axles was 0-3-1T and the power developed was about 180 kW, which allowed a maximum speed of 30 km/h.

In 1892, as part of the renewal of rolling stock on the Biella–Cossato tramway, two other locomotives of the same model were purchased second-hand and re-registered as units 10÷11.

Another unit followed in 1954: it was a 4-axle locomotive (wheel arrangement 0-4-0T) built in 1908 by the Lokomotivfabrik Wiener Neustadt in Floridsdorf, initially used on the Cortina–Dobbiaco military railway, later extended and taken over by the Dolomites railway where the unit was registered as no. 312 – Ampezzo.

Not strictly related to tramway operations, during the years of transformation into a railway, some standard-gauge steam locomotives of various kinds also served on the plant for hauling work trains.

As trailing stock, the Bari–Barletta had 22 two-axle and bogie carriages produced by the Société Franco-Belge pour la Construction de Matériel de Chemins de Fer of La Croyère, to which a further 5 carriages produced by the same manufacturer were added in 1925. Numerous freight wagons of various types completed the fleet equipment.

Motive power – summary table

See also

• List of tram and light rail transit systems
• History of rail transport in Italy
• Bari–Barletta railway
• Biella–Cossato Tramway

References