About this journey

Bologna Centrale station, first constructed in 1859, is the departure point for one of Italy's most celebrated mountain crossings. The line taken here is the Bologna–Florence Direttissima, whose construction began in 1913 and concluded on 22 April 1934 after decades slowed by World War I, economic crises, and the formidable challenge of tunnelling through the Apennines.

The Direttissima reduced the route from 131 to 97 kilometres compared to the earlier Porrettana line, which had crossed the Apennines via Pistoia when it opened in November 1864. The maximum gradient fell from 2.6 percent on the old line to 1.2 percent, and the new railway was designed for speeds of up to 180 km/h. Much of the journey runs underground: 31 tunnels account for 37 percent of the line's length. The centrepiece is the 18.5 km Apennine Base Tunnel, which was the second longest tunnel in the world when built, only 1,300 metres shorter than the Simplon. Deep within it lies an abandoned underground station called Precedenze, disused since the 1960s. The crossing came at considerable human cost — 97 workers died during construction, and many survivors suffered silicosis.

The journey ends at Florence Santa Maria Novella station, a building constructed between 1932 and 1934 and regarded as a landmark of Italian modernism — a fittingly considered destination for a line defined by engineering ambition.