History of rail transport in Italy

The Italian railway system is one of the most important parts of the infrastructure of Italy, with a total length of 24,227 km (15,054 mi).

Railways were introduced in Italy when it was still a divided country.

The first line to be built on the peninsula was the Naples–Portici line, in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, which was 7.640 m long and was inaugurated on October 3, 1839, nine years after the world's first "modern" inter-city railway, the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. The following year the firm Holzammer of Bolzano was granted the "Imperial-Royal privilege" to build the Milano–Monza line (12 km), in the then Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, a puppet state of the Austrian Empire.

On request of the Milanese and Venetian industries, but also for the already clear military importance, construction of the Milan–Venice line was begun. In 1842 the Padua-Mestre stretch of 32 km was inaugurated, followed in 1846 by the Milan-Treviglio (32 km) and Padua-Vicenza (30 km), as well as the bridge spanning the lagoon of Venice.

In the Kingdom of Sardinia (comprising Piedmont and Liguria), King Charles Albert ordered on July 18, 1844 the construction of the Turin–Genoa railway, which was inaugurated on December 6, 1853. This was followed by the opening of other sections which connected with France, Switzerland and Lombardy-Venetia.

...
Wikipedia