Rete Mediterranea

Rete Mediterranea (RM) defines that part of the Italian railway network that, under the law of 27 April 1885 no. 3048, was assigned to the Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo for operation and development. These were mainly lines from the north-west, Ligurian and Tyrrhenian. The initials RM were also used to mark locomotives and rolling stock.

History

The railway networks built before 1885 were largely in concession to private individuals and were in more or less serious economic difficulties. The Kingdom of Italy, in implementation of Law no. 3048 of 27 April 1885 (also called the Railway Conventions) distributed most of the railways of the peninsula into two large networks arranged longitudinally, namely the Rete Mediterranea (Mediterranean Network), of 4,171 km and the Rete Adriatica (Adriatic Network), of 4,379 km, granting them to two large companies to operate for a fee. The Mediterranean Network had roughly the North-West, Ligurian and Tyrrhenian lines.

The concession contract provided for a duration of 60 years, but it included an option for the parties to terminate the contract at the end of every twenty years, with two years' notice. The Società per le Strade Ferrate del Mediterraneo paid the State 135 million lire and obtained, in addition to the railway lines, also the rolling stock and the debts of the old networks redeemed. The State in turn was obliged to pay them annually, by way of compensation, 5% of the paid-up capital. According to the Statistical Yearbook of 1898, published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, the railways of the Mediterranean Network reached, at the end of 1896, 5,765 km.

Nationalization

The network was nationalized under the "Fortis law" of 1905, and passed almost entirely to the new Italian State Railways (FS).

Further reading

• Kalla-Bishop, P.M., Italian Railways, David & Charles, 1971, pp 49-59, ISBN 0715351680