It was opened in 1926 as part of the international
Valmorea railway, but only two years later the border crossing was closed by the Italian government, which didn't agree with a privately owned international connection (the Italian section of the line was operated by
Ferrovie Nord Milano). The Swiss section remained active, but lost passenger service and was from then used only as a freight railway for the industries around
Stabio. Since 1993 the line is also used by touristic trains on the re-opened line to
Malnate. A new branch, the
Arcisate–Stabio railway, was recently constructed, connecting
Varese to
Mendrisio, and therefore to
Lugano and
Como. The 3,5 km section between Mendrisio and Stabio reopened to passenger trains in December 2014, the rest of the line in January 2018. == Notes ==