Milan–Saronno–Tradate Tramway

The Milan–Saronno–Tradate tramway was a steam-powered interurban tram line of the Milan interurban tram network that connected Milan to the towns along the Varesina road; it was the second infrastructure of this type opened in Lombardy.

History

thumb|left|upright=0.8|Timetable from 1899 After a previous proposal drawn up by engineers A. Campiglio and E. Bianchi, the concession for the construction and operation of a horse-drawn tramway from Milan to Saronno and Tradate was granted by the Provincial Administration in a session on 15 February 1876 to the English company The Milan Tramways Company, headed by Cavalier Angelo Luè, who was already involved in promoting the Milan–Monza tramway.

This concession was however withdrawn and transferred in 1877 to the Belgian-law company Società Anonima dei Tramways e delle Ferrovie Economiche di Roma, Milano e Bologna (STFE), founded in 1877 and which in 1889 changed its name to Società per le tramvie e le ferrovie economiche di Roma, Milano e Bologna (TFE), also known as la Belga (the Belgian).

The line was opened on 24 June 1877 as far as Saronno and on 23 February 1878 to Tradate; it was the second tramway built in the province of Milan, after the Milan–Monza, also horse-drawn.

As early as the summer of 1878, operation began with steam traction, as horse traction had proved unsuitable for a predominantly interurban service with widely spaced stops, such as the Milan–Saronno–Tradate. For this reason, two locomotives were tested in service, which made it possible to identify the technical specifications for ordering a group of units: on 26 June 1878, regular steam operation was activated: the Milan–Tradate was the second steam tramway in Italy, preceded only by the , opened a few days earlier.

In 1879 the Milan–Saronno railway was opened to public service. It was managed by Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM) and followed a route similar to that of the tramway, causing a sharp decline in traffic. FNM took over from "la Belga" in the management of the tramway in 1889 and attempted coordinated operation between the two lines, but with little success.

In 1895, the terminal section Saronno–Tradate was closed, having become almost useless after the opening of the ; the Milan–Saronno section, on the other hand, survived, confined to local service, until 1925.

Characteristics

The tramway was an interurban line with single track and a track gauge of 1445 mm.

Route

The tramway had its terminus at Foro Buonaparte 6, later moved to Via Cusani, and, having passed Sempione Park from the northeast, it entered Corso Sempione (along which the Belgian company's depot-workshop was located) up to Piazza Firenze. From there, the line continued along Via Plana, Via Bindellina, and Via Varesina (crossing the Turin–Milan railway at grade) and then entered the provincial road Varesina, which it followed as far as the locality of Villa Dubini, at the gates of Saronno, with a route substantially parallel to the route later taken by the Milan–Saronno railway. Here the tramway branched: one branch continued to Tradate, skirting Saronno and also remaining parallel to the Saronno–Laveno railway, while the other branch entered Via Milano, crossed the railway via an underpass and entered the city, stopping in Piazza Umberto I (later Piazza Venezia) and rejoining the main line near the Santuario della Beata Vergine dei Miracoli.

The section from the Milan terminus in Via Cusani to the Cagnola roundabout (later Piazza Firenze) was shared with the Milan–Gallarate tramway, operated by the same company.

Rolling stock

The tests carried out in 1877 used a Brown vertical-boiler locomotive produced by SLM of Winterthur and a unit made available by Krauss of Munich. These evaluations led the "Belgian" company to order a group of locomotives from both manufacturers.

Under FNM management, five steam locomotives were in service: two, of the cab type, already part of the "Belgian" company's fleet (built by Henschel in 1879) and ceded before 1900, and three purchased new in 1908 from Krauss.

Motive power – summary table

See also

• List of tram and light rail transit systems
• Milan–Saronno railway
• Monza–Trezzo–Bergamo Tramway
• Milan–Gallarate Tramway
• Milan–Monza tramway
• Milan–Vimercate Tramway

References