Venezia Mestre railway station
Venezia Mestre railway station is a junction station in the comune of Venice, Italy. It is located within the mainland frazione of Mestre, and is classified by its owner, Rete Ferroviaria Italiana, as a gold category station.
The station is situated at the mark of the Milan–Venice line, and at the mark of the Adria–Mestre line. It is also the point of origin of other lines that converge towards Venice as the capital of the region Veneto.
Additionally, the station forms the border between the boroughs of Mestre and Marghera, that are connected by the two underpasses of the station, one just for pedestrians and the other for both pedestrians and cyclists.
Venezia Mestre is one of Venice's two most important railway stations, the other one being Venezia Santa Lucia, a terminal station on the island of Venice. Both stations are managed by Grandi Stazioni, and they are linked with each other by the Ponte della Libertà between the mainland and the island.
While Venezia Santa Lucia station's main doors are usually closed at night, Venezia Mestre station is always open and people can pass by also at night, to get on one of the few night trains or to use the underpasses between Mestre and Marghera.
Late night or early morning trains might stop at Venezia Mestre station if the Venezia Santa Lucia station is closed at such time.
In that case, passengers directed to/coming from the Historical Center of Venice they should use the 24/7 ACTV bus service from Piazzale Roma to Venezia Mestre station and vice versa.
Train services
The following services call at the station:- High speed services Salerno – Naples – Rome – Florence – Bologna – Padua – Venice
- High speed services Salerno – Naples – Rome – Florence – Bologna – Padua – Venice
- High speed services Naples – Rome – Florence – Bologna – Padua – Venice
- High speed services Rome Airport – Rome – Florence – Bologna – Padua – Venice
- High speed services Turin – Milan – Verona – Padua – Venice – Trieste
- High speed services Turin – Milan – Verona – Padua – Venice
- High speed services Milan – Verona – Padua – Venice – Treviso – Udine
- High speed services Reggio Calabria – Lamezia Terme – Paola – Salerno – Naples – Rome – Florence – Bologna – Ferrara – Padua – Venice
- High speed services Lecce – Bari – Ancona – Rimini – Padua – Venice
- Intercity services Munich – Innsbruck – Verona – Padua – Venice
- Intercity services Zurich – Arth-Goldau – Bellinzona – Milan – Verona – Padua – Venice
- Intercity services Geneva – Lausanne – Brig – Milan – Verona – Padua – Venice
- High speed services Vienna – Klagenfurt – Villach – Udine – Treviso – Venice
- Intercity services Rome – Florence – Bologna – Padua – Venice – Trieste
- Night train Munich – Tarvisio – Udine – Treviso – Venice
- Night train Rome – Bologna – Venice – Villach – Vienna
- Night train Vienna – Linz – Salzburg – Villach – Udine – Treviso – Venice
- Night train Rome – Bologna – Venice – Udine – Trieste
- Express services Bologna – Ferrara – Rovigo – Padua – Venice
- Express services Verona – Vicenza – Padua – Venice
- Express services Verona – Padua – Venice – Latisana
- Express services Trieste – Cervignano del Friuli – Portogruaro – Venice
- Express services Trieste – Gorizia – Udine – Treviso – Venice
- Regional services Ferrara – Rovigo – Monselice – Padua – Venice
- Regional services Verona – Vicenza – Padua – Venice
- Regional services Trieste – Gorizia – Udine – Treviso – Venice
- Regional services Bassano del Grappa – Castelfranco Veneto – Venice
- Local services Portogruaro – Venice
- Local services ''Adria – Piove di Sacco – Venice''
Traffic
Venezia Mestre is a crucial part of the railway system of the north east of Italy. An important port for both freight and passengers, it has approximately 500 trains and 85,000 passengers each day. It is also a strategic hub, at which the Milan–Venice, Venice–Udine, Trento–Venice, Venice–Trieste and Adria–Mestre lines converge, and from which a four track main line leads to Venezia Santa Lucia.Future developments
Venezia Mestre will be one of the railway stations on the so-called Pan-European Corridor 5. It will also be part of the Veneto region's Metropolitan Regional Rail System network, which will involve all of its lines. For better management of the Venezia Mestre railway junction, numerous works are therefore currently underway.First, the number of platforms at the station is being increased from nine to thirteen, together with crossing loops.
Secondly, and most importantly, work is being done to achieve the partial reactivation of Linea dei Bivi, which has been closed since 1993. The reactivated line will begin at Marocco junction, on the Venice-Udine line, and end almost at the former Mirano junction. It will include the former Orgnano double junction, and Spinea junction, on the Trento–Venice line.
Instead of merging with the Milan-Venice line in the direction of Lombardy's capital, the reborn Bivi line passes over a curved bridge, the Maerne viaduct, which crosses more than four tracks of the Milan line. The reopened Bivi line then joins the Milan-Venice line at the Venice Mestre station throat. This arrangement separates the Trento and Milan lines from each other, and also create an alternative route for trains to Udine.
The new line from the former Orgnano double junction over the Maerne viaduct to Venezia Mestre was officially opened on 30 May 2008 and entered service on 10 June 2008. From 7 June 2008, there was consequential abandonment of the Gruppo Scambi high speed line between the former Orgnano double junction and just before Venezia Mestre, including the former Venezia Asseggiano railway station. The closed portion of line will be reused as a disused railway bicycle path.
These changes will assign to each incoming line a dedicated track, without any intersections between the lines. In particular, tracks 1 and 2 are assigned to the line from Trieste, tracks 3 and 4 to the Udine line, 5 and 6 to the Padua high speed line, 9, 10 and 11 to the original Padua line, and 12 and 13 to the lines for Adria and Trento. Finally, tracks 7 and 8 will be dedicated to those trains leaving or arriving at Venezia Mestre that do not also leave or arrive from Venezia Santa Lucia.
The Venezia Mestre station building is also being modified with a view to better organization of spaces, and to suit commercial services closely linked to the railway, such as the ticket office. It will also become fully accessible to disabled people, through the construction of lifts to each platform.
In the first half of 2009, all the old paddle type destination boards at the station were replaced with new boards fitted with LED displays.