Disused railways: a resource for cyclists and the regeneration of local areas. Converting them into cycle routes can revive small local economies.
With more than 5,000 kilometres still largely unexploited, disused railways represent a genuine asset worth investing in. Where they have been converted into cycle paths, they have brought tangible benefits to local economies through infrastructure, artistic and historical restoration projects. Ten years on from the first survey on the subject, the Federazione italiana ambiente e bicicletta (Fiab) has revisited the issue, capturing in a research report an overall leap forward: from 2010 to the present day, the number of cycle paths created from former railway beds has risen from 42 to 57, and total kilometres from 640 to 1,000; the phenomenon now involves every region except Valle d'Aosta and Molise, which, however, have few disused stretches and, moreover, only recent ones.
For Antonio Dalla Venezia, regional coordinator of Fiab Veneto and president of the scientific technical committee of Bicitalia.org, "this is a positive figure that confirms the growing interest on the part of our administrators in a subject that, until ten years ago, was essentially ignored, with a few exceptions." The best-performing regions by far are Veneto with 165.5 kilometres (where the Treviso–Colzé stretch along the Treviso–Ostiglia cycle route and the Calalzo–Cimabanche stretch along the Calalzo–Cortina–Dobbiaco route stand out), followed by Emilia-Romagna with 132.2 kilometres and Lombardy with 121.3 kilometres.
Beyond the top three, other regions deserve a mention for the strong momentum they have shown in this type of investment. Such is the case with Umbria, which over ten years recorded a +564 per cent increase, going from 11 to 73 kilometres of restored stretches, as well as Basilicata and Abruzzo. The Italian railway stretch with the most kilometres restored is the Godrano–Ficuzza–San Carlo in Sicily, 62 kilometres converted into a cycle route that nonetheless requires greater attention in terms of maintenance and conservation work.
Redeveloping a railway is an intervention that fully respects the environment and has a minimal impact on the land, because, regardless of its new intended use, it makes it possible to avoid the consumption of new virgin public land. It also means keeping alive the memory and history of an already existing piece of infrastructure, restoring dignity to work carried out decades earlier; redevelopment projects always include the restoration of genuine works of art, such as tunnels, bridges, viaducts, toll houses and stations, which constitute an important cultural and architectural heritage of our country.
"A disused railway stretch that is reborn and converted into a cycle tourism route," Dalla Venezia points out, "becomes an attraction for that area in its own right. The appeal and charm offered by a route of this kind is far greater than that of a standard cycle path, because it means cycling through memory and enjoying a different kind of experience." The direct and indirect benefits that the restoration of a disused railway stretch brings with it are truly numerous, starting with the enhancement of lesser-known areas such as mountain villages; it can also inject new vitality into a small local economy, support cycle tourism and everyday sustainable mobility, and become an incentive for the revival or opening of services and hospitality businesses catering to cycle tourists.