Speaker
Description
The object of this paper is the transformations that occurred in the secondary railways of the Tuscan inland areas in the period from the 1930s to the Second World War. This represents the first period in which we observe not only a strong growth in automobile competition but also an awareness of the 'danger' of this new means of transport for the traffic of railway companies, especially in inland areas. In the 1930s, in fact, automobile competition began to grow at an ever-increasing rate, and the secondary railways were the means of transport most affected by the new vehicle, given its greater advantages in transporting both goods and passengers over medium and short distances. The question to be answered is: what measures did the Tuscan secondary railways take to try to 'resist' the growth of road transport? In fact, not only were new measures introduced at a national level, such as Law Decree no. 1496 of 14 October 1932, by which part of rail transport could be replaced by car transport, but a number of transformations were also attempted on these railways, such as electrifications, staff reductions, increases in train lengths and speeds, and changes in tariffs. Through the analysis of the main texts of the time, such as those by Tajani, Capaccioli, Trevisani or Corini, and of archival documents, periodicals, journals and more recent bibliography, the debate will be reconstructed around the theme of competition and coordination between secondary railways and road transport, and the actions and interactions that occurred between the two vehicles will be highlighted using the Tuscan territory as a case study. An element of originality of this intervention is to focus the analysis on a transport infrastructure that has remained on the margins of contemporary Italian historiographical treatises, namely the secondary railways.
Biography
- Leandro Stacchini is a PhD student in Historical Studies, Contemporary History curriculum, at the University of Florence with a project entitled 'Construction and closure of secondary railways: a comparative international perspective'. He collaborates with the LEMOS sustainable mobility laboratory at the University of Siena. Author of: Construction and closure of secondary railways: the case of the Follonica Porto-Massa Marittima in S. Maggi, La rotaia e il treno; Le ferrovie Massa Marittima-Follonica Porto e Villaodrid-Ribadeo: una comparazione internazionale, in Proposte e ricerche, forthcoming in 2024.
