Lugano–Ponte Tresa railway

Lugano–Ponte Tresa railway
FLP train approaching Ponte Tresa
Operation
Owner	Ferrovie Luganesi
Technical
Line length	12.3 km (7.6 mi)
Track gauge	Metre (3 ft 3 3⁄8 in)
Electrification	1350 V, DC Overhead
Route map

The Lugano–Ponte Tresa railway or Ferrovia Lugano–Ponte Tresa (FLP) is a local railway line in the Italian speaking canton of Ticino, in south-east Switzerland. The line links the town of Lugano with Ponte Tresa, and is 12.3 kilometres (7.6 mi) long. It is built to metre gauge (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in gauge), and is electrified on the overhead system at 1350 volts DC. It is operated by the Ferrovie Luganesi company.

The FLP opened in 1912 and is the last working line of an interconnected network including two other suburban lines, the Lugano–Tesserete railway and the Lugano–Cadro–Dino railway, and the urban tramways of Lugano. There are proposals to extend the line back into some of the areas formerly covered by this network.

The FLP is a member of the Arcobaleno tariff network and operates as line S60 of the Rete celere del Canton Ticino. Trains run every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends.

The first proposal for a railway between Lugano and Ponte Tresa dates back to 1877, when a standard gauge line was proposed with the expectation it would be extended to Varese in Italy. However nothing was done until 1910, when the Ferrovie Luganesi company was founded to construct a narrow gauge electric railway between the two towns.

The line opened in 1912, and had a rolling stock comprising three motor cars, three passenger trailers and six freight cars. At Lugano station, a link track connected to the adjacent Lugano–Tesserete railway, allowing transfer of rolling stock.