Mirandola tramway


The Mirandola tramway was a horse-drawn tramway active from 1904 to 1927 and connected the historic centre of Mirandola with the Mirandola railway station located in the hamlet of Cividale.

History

In 1902 the new Mirandola railway station and the section from San Felice sul Panaro to Poggio Rusco of the Verona-Bologna railway under construction were inaugurated in the hamlet of Cividale
Initially, the connection was provided by stagecoaches and public carriages, but after a couple of years it was decided to build a horse-drawn tramway.
On 29 March 1904, the city council authorised the expenditure of 48,000 lire for the laying of the tracks, but in the end 65,000 lire were spent. The service was officially launched on 1 October 1904.
On 1 September 1927 the line was decommissioned due to rising costs, excessive track maintenance costs and the Rolo-Mirandola railway project, which was supposed to connect the FS station in Cividale with the new SEFTA station located near the old town centre and activated in 1932.

Route

The tramway was about four kilometres long and was built with normal gauge Marsillon, Demerbe and Vignoles tracks mounted on oak sleepers.
The route started in Piazza Umberto I, in front of the Teatro Nuovo, while to the side of the theatre itself was the roof of the covered car depot, accessed by a bend.
After crossing Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and a short section of the Abetone national road 55, the tram turned right near the Mulino della Rotonda towards the forum boario and then went straight down the long De Barbieri avenue on the right-hand side.
After two kilometres, at the Cividale stop near the church of St. Michael Arcangel, there was a switch and a double track to allow cars coming from different directions to cross.
Before reaching the terminus of the FS railway station, the tram stopped at the Borghetto junction in Carobbio dell'Olmo, located at the third kilometre.
The entire route can now be cycled on the Antonio Gramsci avenue cycle path.

Rolling stock

Initially, four cars were used that had been discontinued from the Bologna tram network. The passenger cars, yellow in colour and pulled by a pair of horses, were numbered 1, 2 and 3: the first two were divided into 1st and 2nd class, while the third was a single class.
In 1917, one carriage broke down and the company took the opportunity to buy three more from the old tram network in Padua. These cars could carry 24 seated passengers plus 14 standing passengers.