The Renon Railway

On 13 August 1907 the RenonRailway was officially opened. This railway, originally divided into three sections, had its starting station in the central Piazza Walther square in Bolzano. Like a tramway, this railway lead to the station in Renon. From here a rack railway climbed up the Renon upland until the Maria Assunta church. Then, it continued until Soprabolzano and Collalbo.
The construction of the Renon railway, a technical masterpiece dating back to the beginning of the XX century, marked the beginning of the new era of modern tourism in the upland. Both local citizens and tourists alike really enjoyed the new opportunity to move from one place to another in the "refreshing summer destination of Renon". After the initial success of the railway in the first decades, on 16 July 1966 the original rack railway in the section between the Renon and Soprabolzano stations was replaced by a cable railway, making the connection quicker and safer.
In 2009 the cable railway was replaced with a three-wire cable car. The section on river Renon between Maria Assunta and Collalbo with its historical cars belonging to the original Renon Railway were kept, preserved and expanded with new cars. Today, the Renon Railway is a technical period piece of art and, at the same time, it is an ode to the pleasure of moving slowly and quietly.