Rail Stations in Toscana: Firenze Rifredi (part one: today
and yesterday)
Rifredi
station have nothing of particular on itself. It was built in 1848 when
the Firenze-Prato line was opened.
This line called "Maria Antonia" had its
Firenze terminal in the place where now is the station of Firenze
S.M.N. and the other at the current station of Prato
Porta al Serraglio.
At
that time Rifredi was just a suburb of firenze, while today is a semi central
area.
The station in origin was very, very small, and it
was on a single track line.
Along the years this became mostly an industrial area
and also the station resemble that origin. Today's building is not the
original one but there are in the station and in its immediate environs
some very interesting railway history landmarks.
In 1905 some important [railway] works were done in
the area, in particolar was built the direct line between Rifredi and Campo
Marte, skipping the central station of S.Maria Novella, and the line between
Firenze and pistoia was doubled.
Eventually was built the section of line From Cascine
to Rifredi, mostly to remove the track of the line from Pisa crossing a
part of the city in fast development, linking porta al Prato and SMN. This
line can be now easily recognized along via Benedetto Marcello and on the
railways observing the position of the cyan area (on the map above) on
left, where now there is the car yard, that was at the center of the triangle
of the tracks coming from Porta al Prato and going to S.M.N and toward
north, to Rifredi.
In the picture on the right you see the old line from cascine to Porta
al Prato that was used as tha main line to Pisa until 1912.
At that time Rifredi began an important station for
freight, expecially since it had many spurs from its track, either towand
se (custom depots) and to east to the municipar gas company and lather
to the Nuovo pignone and vegetable market. The line to vegetables market
have been cloosed in 1994 and currently only the one to the Nuovo pignone
(now part of GE) is still present.
Also were present a large yard where (picture on
left) there was a small saddle, with a nearby hydraulic column. (on far
left on picture at side, on picture on right, taken on september 1998 the
saddle is no longer present, to allow space for the two new tracks on the
line to Prato)
These tracks were used also for changing the locomotives
of trains from Livorno to Bologna, before than less than ten years ago,
were opened the link between Olmatello
and Castello.
More recently, between 1996 and 1998, these tracks
were used to store new rolling stock under test, expecially in the spring
of 1997 all the tracks were filled with brand new trains. Some days you
could see up to 5 new trainset ready for test runs. (see picture below)
There
was a brief vamp of old times' service at end of 1997 when due to some
works at Olmatello junction the two tracks
from castello toward Livorno were put out of service for a couple of month,
so all freight trains from Castello to Livorno had top back in Rifredi,
so its western tracks were quite busy.
From 1985 to 1997, and expecially in 1995-1996,
at Rifredi had the stop in Firenze all HS trains on the Milano-Roma line,
to avoid backing in S.Maria Novella terminal station. Up to 12 pair of
long range trains a day were present in 1996. In 1997 was decided to take
all long range train to the central station, so only two pairs remained,
that in 1999 disappeared completely.
In the picture on left you see one of the very first
pendolino train arriving in Rifredi.
For that service was built a new 1st class waiting
room, on picture on bottom right you see the works on that, together with
one of the last services of an ALe883 on thge Firenze-Pistoia Line. While
until 1992 that room was used only as a check-in lounge for passenger of
pendolino trains, from 1993 have been enlarged obtaining a new larger ticket-hall
and waiting room (it is just behind the 883)
At the same time its commuter service were greatly
improved. Many trains that previously did not stop here had their stop,
ant this led to a great increase of people using the station, and you can
see some tools on the platform on the pictuire on side, and the new platforms
and sheds in the picture below. (on platform between tracks 3 and 4 the
works are completed, while platform between 5 and 6 still have not been
paved).
Also in picture below, shot in 1985, you can see one
of the first train using the then new mdve cars (unfortunately today moved
to iR services, replaced by less comfortable mdvc cars, that have the same
lenght and number of places, but wider doors, so are quicker to load/unload,
but places more cramped) . Clicking on the image the station without the
train ....
In may 1999 to allow for the work of one tunnel
of the new HS line to Bologna all freight
tracks have been removed. At the same time have began the work on adding
another pair of tracks on the short section to Castello, to have 4
tracks on all the Firenze-Prato line. These works would involve the
rearrangement of the points on northern end, dismantling the launch hill
(on left on picture taken on 23.3.98) and the loading platform or right,
unused since a long time, to accomodate two new tracks.
So as June 1999 in the station remained only the 6
throught tracks and only commuter services.
During these works will be changed completely the
root of tracks toward north, so i enclose a picture taken from the former
control tower in 1988, and just below two images of the works for the new
underpass and other things taken in september 1999
In the years 1996-1998 the station was an usual site
for storing trainset under testing, almost all of 450, 470, 480 and 500,
together with most of the 402 when under test stayed on higher tracks on
thist station. Here we see the ETR450.5 testing new pantograps togeter
wit a new-born 480 .. (taken on 28/3/1998 ... just a random date :-( )
But behind the front of the station there are many
things, most of them of historic interest, click
here to go to the memories of past in this station-history of electrification
in Italy
the pictures whose name begin with lc are by Leandro
Colli
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