{"id":18281,"date":"2025-01-06T13:47:25","date_gmt":"2025-01-06T12:47:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/company\/history\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T16:37:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T14:37:51","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/company\/history\/","title":{"rendered":"History"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Our History<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Towards the end of the 19th century, an administrator from Vico del Gargano, in an effort to persuade a Minister of Public Works to support a proposed Gargano railway project then under consideration, is said to have sent a cluster of eighteen oranges grown on a single branch, with a total weight of 8 kg, harvested from the citrus oasis that still produces high-quality PGI products today. The accompanying letter read: \u201c\u2026evidence of abundant production and wealth, which remains without value due to the lack of convenient and efficient transport routes.\u201d <\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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To tell the history of Ferrovie del Gargano, it is necessary to go back to those years, when the populations of the Gargano area began to call for a fast and reliable connection with the rest of the Capitanata and the country.<\/p>

For centuries, the people of the \u201cMountain of the Sun\u201d had been isolated from the rest of Italy, to the extent that Gargano could be reached only by sea. This represented a significant limitation for both travel and trade, further highlighted after the construction of the Bologna\u2013Brindisi railway line, known as the Adriatic line. <\/p>

Local committees were established to promote the construction of a railway line: they held public meetings and submitted several proposals, some of which were even approved, but all ultimately stalled due to the limited resources of the state budget. However, it was necessary to wait until the interwar period for something to start moving.<\/p>

During the years of the First World War, the construction began of a military line intended to connect a seaplane base at \u201cSan Nicola Imbuti\u201d on Lake Varano with the Bologna\u2013Brindisi Adriatic railway line; this route was later incorporated into the San Severo\u2013Peschici line.<\/p>

On 17 September 1925, Mussolini signed the concession granted to the Sindacato per le Strade Ferrate, providing for the construction of a 75.7 km railway line connecting San Severo to Peschici, consisting of a 950 mm narrow-gauge railway with steam traction from San Severo to San Menaio.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Subsequently, Eng. Nicola Romeo (a Neapolitan entrepreneur and politician, later owner of the Alfa Romeo car manufacturer) took over in 1926 the original concessionaire, the Sindacato per le Strade Ferrate del Gargano, which had found itself on the brink of bankruptcy due to various circumstances. He transformed it into \u201cFerrovie e Tramvie del Mezzogiorno\u201d (FTM), which became \u201chis\u201d railway and into which he invested his greatest efforts. <\/p>

Romeo requested and obtained authorization to modify the project: the line was converted to standard gauge (1,435 mm), the terminus was moved to the Calenella plain, and operation was set to electric traction at 3,000 V DC\u2014a system that had been introduced that same year on the Foggia\u2013Benevento line\u2014resulting in a slightly longer route of 79 km.<\/p>

Changes these aimed at creating continuity between the Adriatic and Garganic lines by allowing, as is still the case today, direct connections to Foggia without transshipment.<\/p>

The laying of the first tracks began in 1930, partly using the remains of the military railway connection. The works, entrusted to the Pietro Cidonio company, were completed almost a year ahead of schedule, allowing the official inauguration to take place on 27 October 1931, with a ceremony at Rodi station.<\/p>

The first official run left Rodi Garganico station for San Severo in the presence of one of the highest authorities of the time, Costanzo Ciano Count of Cortellazzo then Minister of Communications.<\/p>

The inaugural run, however, took place with steam traction, as testing of the electric line had not yet been completed. On 15 November 1931, the railway was officially opened to the public and operated with electric traction.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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After World War II, the company \u201cFerrovie e Tramvie del Mezzogiorno,\u201d on the verge of bankruptcy, passed into the hands of the Scarcia family, which formed the present \u201cFerrovie del Gargano\u201d in Bari by Dr. Sante Scarcia and his son Dr. Vincenzo Scarcia. The Ftm in the person of its president, Eraldo Ribourt, who succeeded Nicola Romeo, ceded the concession of the Gargano Railway to \u201cFerrovie del Gargano srl\u201d in 1962.<\/p>

From those years on, hands were set on the revitalization of the company with a series of initiatives aimed at giving a new impetus to rail transportation in the Promontory.<\/p>

Today, the company is the most important public transport operator in the Capitanata area. It operates not only as the infrastructure manager of the San Severo\u2013Peschici and Foggia\u2013Lucera railway lines, but also as a railway undertaking, providing services on the RFI lines San Severo\u2013Foggia\u2013Bari under the service contract signed with the Apulia Region.<\/p>

Since July 2009, it has also operated the Foggia\u2013Lucera line.<\/p>

Gargano Railways has also developed over the years a dense network of urban and intercity road connections, including nationwide services from the centers of the Gargano promontory to major Italian cities.<\/p>

The road transport division is part of the Cotrap (Consortium of Transport Companies of Puglia) consortium.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Explore our history"<\/span><\/h2><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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1900<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>
(late 19th \u2013 early 20th century)<\/div>
Initial Phases and Planning <\/a><\/h5><\/div>
Late 19th century: With the so-called \u201cBaccarini Law\u201d (1885) and subsequent regulations, discussions began on the importance of a railway network connecting peripheral areas of the Kingdom of Italy, including the Gargano promontory.\n\n
Early 20th century: The first studies and preliminary projects were proposed to establish a railway connection between San Severo and the northern side of Gargano (Rodi, Peschici, and surrounding areas).<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
1920<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>
(1920s\u20131930s)<\/div>
Concession and Start of Works<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
1925\u20131930: Initiatives for the construction of the railway were consolidated; the government and local authorities discussed the concession for the operation of the line.\n
\n1931:<\/b> Concessione ufficiale alla \u201cSociet\u00e0 Ferrovie Garganiche\u201d e avvio dei lavori di realizzazione della linea. La costruzione richiede notevoli sforzi ingegneristici a causa della morfologia impervia del promontorio e della necessit\u00e0 di realizzare ponti, gallerie e viadotti. <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
1930<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>
(1930s\u20131940s)<\/div>
First openings and completion<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
1931\u20131933: Opening of the first line sections, in particular the San Severo \u2013 Rodi Garganico route, which connects the Gargano coast to the national rail network.\n
\n\n1934: Inauguration of additional routes and progressive extension towards Peschici.\n
1939\u20131940: The railway line reaches Peschici Calenella, enabling a direct connection from San Severo. By the late 1930s, the main route is considered substantially complete, although World War II affects operations and finishing works. <\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
1950<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>
(1950s\u20131980s)<\/div>
Development, expansion and crisis<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
1950s\u20131960s: The railway becomes an essential means of transport for residents and tourists heading to the Gargano seaside resorts. Some infrastructure (stations, signalling) is upgraded to support the increase in traffic. \n
1970s: The possibility of closing some routes deemed unprofitable is debated on several occasions; strong local opposition keeps the railway alive, also thanks to growing tourist demand.\n
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1980<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>
(1980s \u2013 1990s)<\/div>
Modernisation<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
1980s: Ferrovie del Gargano, having taken over the original management, launches modernisation projects, acquires more up-to-date rolling stock and intensifies road coach connections integrated with the rail service.

1990s: Modernisation of the line continues with the introduction of more comfortable railcars, along with improvements to stations.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
2000<\/span><\/div><\/a><\/div><\/div>
(from 2000 to the present)<\/div>
Revival<\/a><\/h5><\/div>
2000s:\nExpansion of the tourist offer: special trains are organised during peak season and coach services are added to cover parts of the promontory not reached by the railway. \nElectrification projects and renewal of railway infrastructure (tracks, signalling systems).\n\nAfter 2010:\nTechnological upgrading works continue (safety and communication systems) alongside the replacement of older rolling stock with more modern models.
Rail connections with other centres in Puglia are strengthened, making the service increasingly competitive for both residents and tourists.<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Our History Towards the end of the 19th century, an administrator from Vico del Gargano, in an effort to persuade a Minister of Public Works to support a proposed Gargano railway project then under consideration, is said to have sent a cluster of eighteen oranges grown on a single branch, with a total weight of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":243555538,"featured_media":18290,"parent":18231,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"elementor_theme","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18281","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/243555538"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18281"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18281\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18293,"href":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18281\/revisions\/18293"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.ferroviedelgargano.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}