Construction and opening The line was built by
Thomas Brassey under contract to the
Società Vittorio Emanuele ("Victor Emmanuel Company", named in honour of
Victor Emmanuel II, then king of
Piedmont and
Sardinia) and opened between Turin and
Novara on 20 October 1856 and extended to the
Ticino river—which formed the boundary between Piedmont and the
Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia (then part of the
Austrian Empire)—on 18 October 1858. The bridge over the river connecting to the existing railway from Milan at
Magenta was opened on 1 June 1859. Three days later the French-Sardinian army led by
Napoleon III defeated the Austrians at the
Battle of Magenta with the help of supplies brought by the new railway. This was a major step in the
unification of Italy. The line formed part of the
Società per le strade ferrate dell'Alta Italia (
Upper Italian Railways) from 1865 and the
Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo (
Mediterranean Railway Company) from 1885.
In the twentieth century Following the nationalisation of the railways, the line was incorporated into the state network and its operation was taken over by
Ferrovie dello Stato between 1905 and 1906. The line was severely damaged during the Second World War. In 1951, it was restored to operation, albeit temporarily, in some parts. The main line from
Novara to
Rho was electrified from the timetable change in May 1960. The missing section from Turin to Novara was electrified the following year and inaugurated on 4 June in the presence of the Minister of Transport
Giuseppe Spataro, on the occasion of the 100th
anniversary of the unification of Italy. At the beginning of the 2000s, the management of the line passed to
Rete Ferroviaria Italiana. == Features ==