ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

The reactivation of secondary railway tracks as an opportunity to revitalise fragile territories: the experimental case of the Civitavecchia-Capranica-Orte railway line

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 18 | TOURISM

Speakers

Ludovica Dangelo (Sapienza university of Rome) Laura Di Fiandra (Sapienza university of Rome) Rosa Romano (Sapienza university of Rome) Marika Fior (Sapienza university of Rome)

Description

PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH
Vulnerable territories cover 60% of Italy’s land surface, including inner areas, which are far from metropolitan catchment basins and the main centres of essential services and are therefore particularly affected by the lack of infrastructure. In fact, the development of the railway networks reflects the policies carried out for the improvement of the main networks, such as high speed, ignoring the secondary and minor networks, thus creating an imbalance between fast and slow territories (1). However, secondary lines have driven territorial development and offer an opportunity for the revitalisation of vulnerable areas. These infrastructures have contributed to the layering of places, and as well as historical frameworks, become a strategic resource for the revitalisation of small and medium-sized centres and communities crossed by the lines.
The aim of the paper is to analyse how the reactivation of minor railways, through inter- and multimodal measures at their nodes, can trigger multi-scale regeneration processes; in this perspective, Civitavecchia-Capranica-Orte (CCO) railway line is examined. The purpose is to evaluate whether the rehabilitation of the infrastructure can contribute to territorial rebalancing, improve access to public services, and promote sustainable, responsible, and "slow" tourism by the revitalisation of economic activities and the enhancement of human, cultural and landscape resources.
Indeed, the line has been included among the railway lines of cultural, landscape, and tourist value under Law 128/2017, which establishes tourist rail. Furthermore, its rehabilitation is one of the short and medium-term measures included in the Regional Mobility, Transport and Logistics Plan (3), which aims to achieve an ecological transition in line with the “do not significant harm” principle (4).
PRINCIPAL RESULTS
The study includes the review of existing literature, the examination of cartographic and historical documents, on-site inspections, photographic surveys and interviews with privileged stakeholders.
Among the main expected outcomes is the experimentation of opportunities related to the innovation of disused stations and their role as a local and territorial catalyst, as well as the implementation of sustainable tourist flows. The contribution assumes how the re-signification of the railway’s historical framework (2), together with the re-establishment of the ordinary and tourist passenger service, can facilitate economies, starting from an integrated mobility system, linked to the tourist vocation of the contexts involved. This approach promotes accountable tourism, which, while enhancing accessibility, preserves natural, anthropic, and cultural features, ensuring sustainable use.
Furthermore, the contribution aims to investigate whether the activation of an integrated mobility system can reduce the use of private road transport, through solutions such as train-bike or a local public transport system linked to the nodes. Particular attention will be given to the valorisation of currently disused stations, as they are key elements for connecting users to railway services and promoting greater inclusivity.
MAJOR CONCLUSIONS
The experimentation conducted shows that the reactivation of rail services, integrated with local public transport and slow mobility networks, can contribute to territorial rebalancing and socio-economic revitalisation. This allows the promotion of sustainable and responsible forms of tourism for the improvement of accessibility to services and the enhancement of the existing heritage. Moreover, railway networks form a rail landscape that highlights the connection between communities and places, reinforcing local collective memory (5), while the reorganisation of small and medium railway nodes allows new access points for the fruition of heritage along the line.
In this way, the railway line becomes the framework within which actions for the regeneration of heritage and their surrounding contexts can be undertaken. To realise this perspective, a multi-scalar and integrated approach is needed, able to foster cooperation between different institutional levels but also the active participation of local communities.

References

1.Cerasoli, M. (2019) Politiche ferroviarie, modelli di mobilità e territorio: verso nuovi scenari integrati. In Ravagnan, C. (eds.) Rigenerare le città e i territori contemporanei: Prospettive e nuovi riferimenti operativi per la sperimentazione (I edizione). Aracne editrice.
2.Galuzzi, P. & Vitillo, P. (2022) Telai e tasselli resilienti per il welfare urbano della città contemporanea, in Urbanistica Dossier, 022, pp. 134-140.
3.RL (2020) Piano Regionale della Mobilità, dei Trasporti e della Logistica. Il Sistema Ferroviario. Dicembre 2020. [Online] Available at: | Regione Lazio | CITTADINI-TRASPORTI MOBILITA' SOSTENIBILE-PRMTL – PIANO REGIONALE MOBILITÀ, TRASPORTI E LOGISTICA
4.EU (2021) Regolamento (EU) 2021/241 del Parlamento Europeo e del Consiglio che istituisce il dispositivo per la ripresa e la resilienza. [Online] Available at: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/241/oj
5.Viola, F. (2014) Il paesaggio ferroviario tra natura, artificio ed arte, in C. de Seta and A. Buccaro (eds.) Città mediterranee in trasformazione. Identità e immagine del paesaggio urbano tra Sette e Novecento. Naples: Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, pp. 101-109.