Venezia Santa Lucia railway station

Venezia Santa Lucia
View of the station building.
Location
Address	Fondamenta Santa Lucia 30121 Venezia
Comune	Venice
Province	Venice
Region	Veneto
Country	Italy
Coordinates	45°26′27.51″N 12°19′15.74″E
Line(s)	Milano – Venezia Venezia – Udine Trento – Venezia Venezia – Trieste
Other information
Opened	1861
Platforms	16
Owner	Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
Manager	Grandi Stazioni
Line operator(s)	Trenitalia
Services
Connections
	Urban / suburban
	Water taxis
Location map
Venezia Santa Lucia railway station Venezia Santa Lucia railway station (Italy)

View from the North West.

A platform at the station in 2008

Venezia Santa Lucia railway station (Italian: Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia) is a terminal station serving the comune of Venice, Italy. It is also the only railway station in the historic city of Venice (Italian: Centro storico).

The station is one of Venice's two most important railway stations, the other one being Venezia Mestre, a junction station in Venice's mainland frazione of Mestre. Both stations are managed by Grandi Stazioni, and they are linked with each other by the Ponte della Libertà (English: Liberty Bridge) between the mainland and the historic city.

Location

Venezia Santa Lucia is situated in Cannaregio, the northernmost of the six historic sestieri (districts) of the historic city, near the western end of the Grand Canal. It is also at the 267 kilometres (166 mi) mark of the Milan–Venice railway.

A bridge over the Grand Canal, the Ponte degli Scalzi (or Ponte dei Scalzi) (English: Bridge of the Barefoot [Monks]), links the concourse in front of the station with the sestiere of Santa Croce. Since 2008, the concourse has also been linked with Piazzale Roma, the car terminal in the historic city and main terminus for all bus routes to Venice, by another Grand Canal bridge, the controversial Ponte della Costituzione (English: Constitution Bridge).

History

Work on the construction of the station began in 1860. To make room for the station and its forecourt, both a convent and the Church of Santa Lucia were demolished in 1861. The station then took the name of the church.

The current station building is one of the few modernist buildings facing the Grand Canal. It is the result of a series of plans started by the rationalist architect Angiolo Mazzoni in 1924, and developed by him over the next decade.

In 1934, a contest for a detailed design for the current station was won by Virgilio Vallot. Between 1936 and 1943, Mazzoni and Vallot collaborated on the construction of the station building, and Mazzoni also worked on the train hall. The work was completed only some years later, in 1952, to a design developed by another architect, Paul Perilli.

In November 2009, work began on the renovation of the station. The renovation will include improvements to the use of spaces and the flow of internal transit. Additionally, certain architectural elements will be recovered and restored, and the atrium will be altered to house several retail spaces. The project is estimated to take two years and cost 24 million euros.

Features

As the current station building is low and wide, it does not dominate its surroundings. The flanks of its facade are decorated with Venetian lions. Behind the facade, there is a sizeable main hall with ticketing facilities, shops, offices and luggage storage facilities. The main hall also leads to sixteen platforms.

Traffic

The station is used by about 82,000 passengers per day, or a total of around 30 million passengers per annum.

Every day, approximately 450 trains stop at the station. Long distance trains use the central platforms, and the regional and suburban plaforms are located to the west.

The station is the terminus of several famous trains, including the Venice Simplon Orient Express.

Interchange

Overview

The station is connected with the rest of Venice by the Vaporetto (public water bus) or private water taxi boats. The nearby Piazzale Roma is the departure point for all car services and taxis for the mainland.

Vaporetto lines in the transit station

The stop (dock) is called Ferrovia and is served by eight ACTV Vaporetto lines:

• 1 P.le Roma - Ferrovia - Rialto - San Marco - Lido
• 2 San Zaccaria - Giudecca - Tronchetto - P.le Roma - Ferrovia - Rialto - San Marco - (Lido)
• 41 Murano - F.te Nove - Ferrovia - P.le Roma - Giudecca - San Zaccaria - F.te Nove - Murano
• 42 Murano - F.te Nove - San Zaccaria - Giudecca - P.le Roma - Ferrovia - F.te Nove - Murano
• 51 Lido - F.te Nove - Ferrovia - P.le Roma - San Zaccaria - Lido
• 52 Lido - San Zaccaria - P.le Roma - Ferrovia - F.te Nove - Lido
• DM Murano - Ferrovia - P.le Roma - Tronchetto
• N San Zaccaria - Giudecca - Tronchetto - P.le Roma - Ferrovia - Rialto - San Marco - Lido (night line)

See also

• Trenitalia
• Grandi Stazioni
• Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
• Venice
• Venezia Mestre railway station
• Railway stations in Italy

External links

Media related to Venezia Santa Lucia at Wikimedia Commons

• "Grandi Stazioni SpA" official website (English)
• Stazioni del Mondo - Description and images of Venezia Santa Lucia station (Italian)
  

  

  Steam train from Santa Lucia to Bassano del Grappa, August 1973.