The Sicilian railroad network, which was largely created in the 70 years between the
Unification of Italy and the first decade of
Mussolini's government, underwent little change since then until
after World War II when, especially with the so-called Scalfaro decree, the disposal of some lines that were deemed too costly in terms of the ratio of revenue to yield began despite the fact that they served, sometimes as the only link, the local populations of inland areas. A second wave of disposals in more recent times occurred as a result of the so-called stately decree. In 2008, the network was paradoxically configured to resemble that of the early 20th century, with slightly less extension, but in 2010 additional rail routes were suspended and uncertainty remains about the fate of important lines such as the Syracuse-Gela-Canicattì and the Alcamo-Castelvetrano-Trapani. The most important lines in the present-day network are: the Tyrrhenian, between Messina and Palermo to which the extension on the
Punta Raisi Airport and to Trapani is attached westward; and the Ionian, between Messina, Catania and Syracuse; the central Sicilian, in the interior, between Palermo and Catania via Caltanissetta and Enna completes the picture. The inland transversal between Palermo and Agrigento is being upgraded and speeded up, and to a lesser extent the one between Catania and Gela. However, there are also lines of more limitedly local and commuter function such as the Alcamo-Castelvetrano-Trapani and the southern
Syracuse-Ragusa-Gela-Canicattì which, although they pass through many important areas and production centers, do not seem to be given much consideration. Notable among these is the
Circumetnea railway, a rail line with suburban and metropolitan functions.
The Tyrrhenian backbone The line involves the two urban hubs of
Palermo and
Messina around which the major commuter traffic takes place and also allows the city of
Trapani to be reached via
Trapani railway station; it is called Tyrrhenian because it faithfully follows the coastline of the
Tyrrhenian Sea on the northern side of the region. The union of the two lines Palermo-Messina and Palermo-Trapani entirely covers the Tyrrhenian side of Sicily. The Tyrrhenian Palermo-Messina was fully inaugurated in 1895, replacing the very long previous route that, from Palermo, passed through Aragona,
Caltanissetta,
Enna, and
Catania before finally reaching Messina. The line slavishly follows the Tyrrhenian coast for most of the route as a result of the difficult topography of the area, in many cases with a steep coastline and overhanging into the sea, without penetrating inland except in a few cases. Doubling has been under construction for many years with very significant costs given the need for considerable artwork with moving the route further inland. The line, which measures 213 km, is still largely single-track with rather low track speeds for much of the route. Until the 1990s, in order to pass the
Peloritani Pass near Messina, it was necessary for trains of higher composition to be pushed to the rear with a decoupleable mesh
locomotive; when traction was still
steam-powered, that is, until the 1950s, this caused quite a few health problems for the tail-end drivers because of the smoke that accumulated in the tunnel. In May 1951, electric traction operation began on the
Peloritan side of the city; electrification work reached the
Sicilian capital in 1955. During the following years the sections near the two cities were doubled and finally with the activation of the Peloritan Tunnel eliminated the push service to heavy trains. In the past the line had an increase in freight traffic to support the industrial activities of
Palermo and the
FIAT plant in
Termini Imerese even though it was penalized by the single track and the amount of crossings and headways due to the coexisting passenger traffic. The general crisis of the 2000s drastically reduced this traffic. The backbone is supplemented by the 125-km-long Palermo-Trapani, from which branches off the important branch (of 14 km) to
Palermo-Punta Raisi Airport. The line enters the Trapani plain, cutting sharply through the tip of
San Vito Lo Capo to reach Trapani from which it can continue to
Marsala,
Mazara del Vallo and
Castelvetrano. The line speed is around 80-90 km/h, with considerable gradients (19 per mille) around
Partinico.
The Ionian backbone The Ionian is the second major line in the region. It is 182 km long from central Messina to Syracuse. It was the first line in the region to be built in its entirety between 1867 and 1871, with the present layout except for the modern double-track variant sections between Fiumefreddo and Catania and between
central Messina and Giampilieri. Elegant
625 locomotives and some of Italy's most impressive steam locomotives, such as the
746 and
480, ALn 56 Fiat railcars, and
ALn 772, among others, ran on this line. In the late
postwar period, with electrification,
E.636,
E.626 locomotives and Ale 840 railcars arrived, supplemented from the mid-1970s also by
E.646 and later
E.656. The line also saw the presence of ALe 601s, which operated the "Peloritano" express train to
Roma Termini. All categories of trains run on the Ionian line, except for high-speed ones, and at one time also many agency trains of a tourist nature. However, traffic is affected by the presence of the long single-track section in the central part. The line begins double-track from
central Messina to Giampilieri from where it becomes single-track; from here and as far as
Taormina it passes through densely inhabited areas and alternates between sections in the open and in tunnels; the line penetrates further, continuing on Giarre (where there is a connection with the FCE) and Acireale becoming double-track again shortly after the station of
Fiumefreddo di Sicilia and up to the entrance of Catania; the Acireale section is, since the 1980s, almost entirely in tunnels following the construction of the double track. The section of the line through Catania is currently being buried with work scheduled for completion in 2016. From Catania's Acquicella station it runs alongside the double-track
Fontanarossa airport, which, however, ends as early as Bicocca; it becomes single-track again, crossing almost uninterrupted citrus groves and coastal stretches as far as
Augusta; after the long, almost straight section passing through the
Priolo petrochemical plant, it becomes double-track again at Targia as far as
Siracusa, which has been transformed into a head station for some years now.
The backbone of central Sicily The central Sicilian backbone that began in 1863 with the Palermo-Bagheria was completed in 1885, with the opening of the Marianopoli tunnel that allowed direct trains between Palermo and Catania to take the so-called Vallelunga line, avoiding the long round trip of the one, opened in 1881, that ran from
Roccapalumba to Aragona-Caldare (on the outskirts of Agrigento, then Girgenti) and then up to Canicattì and Caltanissetta Xirbi (then
Santa Caterina Xirbi). The construction period of more than 20 years can be explained by the topographical difficulties of the stretches of land crossed, as well as by the length of the line, about 240 km, which passes through the inland provincial capitals,
Enna and
Caltanissetta. Initially, when it was built it was a connection on Lercara and later for
Girgenti because the primary interest was mainly in getting
sulfur from the inland basins of Sicily to the ports of Palermo or Porto Empedocle. Only later did the opportunity to connect the aforementioned line more concretely to the one already built coming from Catania emerge. Trains from Palermo, having arrived at Roccapalumba for the most part go toward Agrigento, while some continue to Caltanissetta and Catania through a long series of sparsely man-made valleys and hills and the long Marianopoli Tunnel that heralds the arrival at the Caltanissetta Xirbi Station. From Xirbi, the railway route for Canicattì and Agrigento detaches. The railroad continues to the Villarosa Station, once an important sulfur depot and since 8 December 1995 the site of an interesting Railway Museum, of mining art and rural culture, set up entirely aboard vintage wagons. Then begins the hard climb to
Enna that required double or triple pulling in the days of
steam when the line was still among the most important in Sicily. After the long Misericordia Tunnel, the line reaches Enna Station, a passenger stop of a certain importance, after which the line descends again toward the Dittaino Valley to the 280 m above sea level of Dittaino Station, which serves the Enna Industrial Hub. The line continues downhill through arable fields and citrus groves to
Catenanuova and beyond through the
Plain of Catania; the proximity to the
Etnean capital is made tangible by the sight of the industrial settlements and the airport. The line had relevance from its inception because it connected the three major urban centers of Palermo, Catania and Messina. Also because it was functional for mining transport from the
sulfur mines of Caltanissetta,
Villarosa and the Enna area (including the important ones of Floristella and Grottacalda) to the embarkation ports. The importance of the line for freight traffic waned until the 1970s following the systematic closure of the mines and especially the opening of the
A19 highway, which was more competitive for passenger connections between the two extreme locations. The railroad has modest commuter traffic between Enna and Caltanissetta, and between them and Catania, and despite modernizations and the use of modern circulation systems it records low standards of utilization in place, with little supply of passenger trains and few freight trains. Since the beginning of the 2000s, an upgrading project with relevant structural changes to the line has been slowly materializing, starting with the first section Bicocca -
Catenanuova with a view to future upgrading and development of the railway network in central and
eastern Sicily. In 2017, the approval of the final project, signed by Maurizio Gentile, CEO and general manager of
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, resulted in the tendering of the doubling and speeding of the Bicocca - Catenanuova lot. The track design calls for a maximum commercial speed of up to 200 km/h. The call for tenders for the executive design and construction work was published in the
Official Journal of the European Union and on RFI's procurement portal for a base bid amount of 220 million euros. The tender is expected to be concluded by the end of 2017. The intervention consists of the construction of the double-track line between Bicocca and Catenanuova (about 37 km); part of the route runs alongside the existing line, and part is a variant. It is scheduled for completion in 2022. One of the two new tracks will be activated in 2020.
Lines in concession , of the Circumetnea Railway, restored for the provision of tourist and amateur trains on request. Of the Sicilian railways in concession only one has survived the cuts and closures; the
Ferrovia Circumetnea, which has shown constant vitality and despite experiencing periods of great difficulty has been moving, since the threshold of the 2000s, toward adaptation to metropolitan and tourist traffic with further network expansion projects. The other line, the Syracuse-Ragusa-Vizzini Railroad, which ran through the Anapo Valley, was closed and dismantled in the late 1950s despite representing, if upgraded, the shortest link between Ragusa and Catania and a valuable means of tourist transportation to
Pantalica. == Network characteristics ==