Monte Generoso Railway

Monte Generoso Railway
Train at the summit station
Operation
Opened	June 5, 1890
Owner	Migros supermarket chain
Technical
Track gauge	800 mm (2 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Electrification	800 V, DC, overhead line
Highest elevation	1,605 m (5,266 ft)
Maximum incline	22%
Rack system	Abt

Train at Bellavista station

View to the north of the Monte Generoso showing Lake Lugano and Melide

The Monte Generoso Railway (MG) or Ferrovia Monte Generoso is a mountain railway line in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino, in south-east Switzerland. The line runs from Capolago, on Lake Lugano, to a terminus near the summit of Monte Generoso. The summit (1,701 m/5,581 ft) offers extensive views over the Lombardy Plain and towards the Alps.

The line is 9 km (5.6 mi) long and has a rail gauge of 800 mm (2 ft 7 ¹⁄₂ in). It is a rack railway, with a maximum gradient of 22%, using the Abt design. Originally steam operated and later diesel operated, the line was electrified in 1982 using an 800 V DC overhead line. The line is principally operated by four two-car electric trains, built by SLM in 1981-2, and numbered 11-14. Steam locomotive 2 still exists and is occasionally operated.

The line commences at Capolago Lago, where trains connect with steamers on Lake Lugano. However most trains start 300 m (984 ft) up the line at Capolago station, at an altitude of 273 m (896 ft), where they connect with Swiss Federal Railways trains on the line from Lugano to Milan via Chiasso. From Capolago station the line climbs to San Nicolao station, 707 m (2,320 ft), to Bellavista station, at 1,222 m (4,009 ft), and finally to the Generoso Vetta terminus, at 1,605 m (5,266 ft). Both San Nicolao and Bellavista stations have passing loops.

The line opened on the June 5, 1890, but the owning company went bankrupt twice (in 1904 and 1914). When this looked like happening again in 1939, the Swiss Migros supermarket chain took over and still own the line. From 1891 to 1913 a 600 mm (1 ft 11 ⁵⁄₈ in) gauge horse drawn tramway linked Bellavista station with the Hotel Pasta.

Whilst the railway lies entirely within Switzerland, the summit station is only a few metres from the international border with the Italian region of Lombardy.

References

• Book Tramways and Light Railways of Switzerland and Austria, ISBN 0-900433-96-5, by R.J.Buckley, published by the Light Rail Transit Association, 1984.
• Article The Full Monte by Hugh Dougherty, in Narrow Gauge World magazine, March/April 2005, published by Atlantic Publishers.
• Wikipedia article Ferrovia_Monte_Generoso_SA (in German), last updated 2 February 2005 at 14:11

External links

• Ferrovia Monte Generoso website