The new stretch of railway between Malé and Marilleva adds kilometres of track to the system in Trentino, but also adds history to history. Ten new kilometres of track have joined up with the existing lines, which are not far from celebrating their centenary; Monday 11 October 1909 was the date of the first train journey from Trento to Malé. The Trento-Malé railway was the realisation of a dream – that of the podestà (mayor) of Trento, Paolo Oss Mazzurana. The construction of the line along the River Noce had, however, also been aspired to since 1897 by the inhabitants of the Val di Non and the Val di Sole, whose local administrations made their support for the plan conditional on the line being extended as far as Fucine. Almost a century later, the first part of the whole project is being completed, with the extension of the line from Malé to Marilleva. The new stretch of line takes in the stations of Malè and Diamo, where it is possible to change trains for Croviana, Monclassico, Mastellina, Mestriago-Daolasa, Piano and Marilleva. The advantages of this are considerable, at the very least in terms of time; being able to go as far as Fucine will mean saving up to half an hour of the journey to Trento, because the trains will be able to travel faster, with less time spent waiting for connections and at junctions. 2004 will also see the arrival of twelve new electric trains, which will even be competitive with road transport. And that’s not all. The extension will also make it possible for mountain sports enthusiasts to get to the ski slopes directly by train.
