Railway lines had been built from Trento, in what was then part of Austria-Hungary, in 1859 southwards to Verona, and in 1867 northwards to Bolzano and the Brenner pass; today these form the Brenner Railway, the main railway connection between Italy and Austria. On the Italian side a line was built from Bassano del Grappa to Padua in 1877, and an extension to the Italian-Austrian border at Primolano was studied. However, when the Veneto joined the Kingdom of Italy, a new border was established at Tezze, and hence the Austrians constructed a railway from Trento to Tezze in 1896, where it joined the Italian Valsugana railway line. On the Italian side, the line from Mestre via Primolano to the border was built between 1906 and 1910, with the first part, to Bassano del Grappa, opening in 1908, and a second to Carpanè Valstagna the following year. Primolano now became an international border station, though only for a few years, as Trentino-Alto Adige became part of Italy after the First World War. The line was electrified in the 1980s from Castelfranco Veneto to Venezia Mestre, and in 2003 from Castelfranco Veneto to Bassano del Grappa. Other improvements in the 2000s included a so-called 'light surface metro' - a half-hourly local train service which also services a series of new suburban stations in the Trento region. For this service, new trains of the Minuetto type were bought by Trentino Trasporti in order to replace the old FS Class ALn 668. A similar suburban service might be installed between Mestre and Castelfranco Veneto, but track improvements necessary for such a service are rendered difficult by the Padua-Venice section of the Verona–Venice high-speed railway.
Characteristics
The railway line is single track all the way from Trento to Maerne di Martellago, near Mestre, where it becomes double track for the last 10 km. All of it is standard gauge, and the line is electrified at 3000 V from Mestre to Bassano del Grappa, where the maximum speed is. Beyond Bassano, maximum speeds are much lower, with an average grade of 10 per thousand, increasing to 22 per thousand beyond Primolano. Trains take about 3.5 hours to cover the complete distance, for an average speed of below 50 km/h.
Services
Regional railway services are offered by Trenitalia and Trentino Trasporti from Trento to Bassano del Grappa, and from Bassano del Grappa to Venice Santa Lucia. Additionally, hourly 'light surface metro' services are offered in peak hours between Borgo Valsugana East and Trento and between Castelfranco Veneto East and Venice.
