page_title: Pistoia–Bologna railway
section_title: Length and date of opening of individual sections
hierarchical_section_title: Pistoia–Bologna railway / History / Length and date of opening of individual sections
caption_attribution_description: Foto della stazione di San Mommè
context_page_description: The Pistoia–Bologna railway is an Italian railway connecting Bologna to Pistoia and was the first line through the Apennines between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. It is also known in Italian as the Ferrovia Porrettana or the Transappenninica. It was officially called the Strada ferrata dell'Italia Centrale and was officially inaugurated by King Victor Emmanuel II in 1864.
  At the time it was an enormous engineering project with its 47 tunnels and 35 bridges and viaducts, with a total length of 99 km. The most difficult section was the 14 km stretch between Pracchia and Pistoia, which had a drop of 500 metres. The project was put in the charge of the French engineer Jean Louis Protche who solved the problem by designing a spiral tunnel between Piteccio and Corbezzi. This solution was then used for the construction of the Gotthard Tunnel. In Porretta Terme a square was dedicated to Protche and Victor Emmanuel II, who opened the line. It was electrified on the three-phase system in 1927 and re-electrified with 3,000 V DC in 1934.
context_section_description: Bologna–Vergato, 39 km, 18 August 1862
  Vergato–Pracchia, 35 km, 1 December 1863
  Pracchia–Pistoia, 25 km, 2 November 1864
caption: San Mommè station
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