Venezia Santa Lucia () is the central station of Venice in the north-east of Italy. It is a terminus and located at the northern edge of Venice's historic city (). The station is one of Venice's two most important railway stations; the other one is Venezia Mestre, a mainline junction station on Venice's mainland district of Mestre. Both Santa-Lucia and Mestre stations are managed by Grandi Stazioni and they are connected to each other by Ponte della Libertà ().
Location Venezia Santa Lucia is located in Cannaregio district, the northernmost of the six historic sestieri (districts) of Venice's historic city. It is situated on the northernmost island and near the western end of the Grand Canal. The station lies at the mark of the Milan–Venice railway.
A bridge over the Grand Canal, the Ponte degli Scalzi (or Ponte dei Scalzi) (), links the concourse in front of the station with the sestiere of Santa Croce.
Venice's historic city had access only by river boats or railway until 1933 (construction of the road bridge and of Piazzale Roma). Since then, a terminal has been built for road transport with car parks and bus stations.
History
Construction of Santa Lucia railway station began in 1860 under the Austrian Empire. In order to make room for both the station building and its forecourt, a convent and the Church of Santa Lucia were demolished in 1861. The station in turn took up the name of this church.
The current station building is one of the few modernist buildings facing the Grand Canal. It is the result of a series of plans started up by the rationalist architect Angiolo Mazzoni in 1924 and developed by him over the next decade.
In 1934, a contest for a detailed design for the current station was won by Virgilio Vallot. Between 1936 and 1943, Mazzoni and Vallot collaborated on the construction of the station building; Mazzoni also designed the train hall. The final implementation, however, was undertaken only after the Second World War. In 1952, the station was completed on a design which had been developed by another architect, Paul Perilli.
In 1994 the former goods yard directly to the south west of the station which had been closed in the 1970s and used intermittently as a rail yard ever since was redeveloped to provide extra capacity resulting in 8 extra platforms increasing the total number of platforms from 15 to 23.
In November 2009, work began on the renovation of Santa Lucia station. The renovation programme would include improvements to the use of spaces and the flow of internal transit. In addition, certain architectural elements would be recovered and restored; the atrium would be altered to house several retail spaces. This project was completed in 2012 with a cost of 24 million euros.
Features As the current station building is low and wide, it does not dominate its surroundings. The flanks of its façade are decorated with Venetian lions. Behind the façade, there is a sizeable main hall with ticketing facilities, shops, offices and luggage storage facilities. The main hall also leads to the station's 15 internal platforms. Platforms 16–23 are situated outside in the redeveloped goods yard directly to the south east of the station.
Train services
The station is served by the following services:
High-speed High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciarossa) Venice-Salerno: Venice – Padua – Bologna – Florence – Rome – Naples – Salerno. (with extended services from Venice to Udine and Trieste, from Rome to Fiumicino airport, from Salerno to Calabria and from Paola to Sibari) High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciarossa) Turin-Salerno: Turin – Milan – Reggio Emilia AV – Bologna – Florence – Rome – Naples – Salerno. (Some Frecciarossa routes have been extended from Milan to Brescia and Bergamo, from Florence to Arezzo and Perugia, from Rome Caserta, Benevento, Foggia, Bari and Lecce, and from Salerno to Reggio Calabria or Potenza and Taranto) High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciarossa) Rome-Verona: Rome – Florence – Bologna – Verona (with extended services continuing on to Bolzano or Brescia/Bergamo. Extensions from Bologna to Modena and Mantua are also being planned) High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciarossa) Turin-Lecce: Turin – Milan – Bologna – Rimini – Ancona – Foggia – Bari – Lecce/Taranto and Venice – Padua – Ferrara – Bologna – Rimini – Ancona – Foggia – Bari – Lecce High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciarossa) Rome-Genoa: Rome – Florence – Pisa – La Spezia – Rapallo – Genoa High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciarossa) Rome-Reggio Calabria: Rome – Naples Afragola – Salerno – Paola – Lamezia – Rosarno – Reggio Calabria High-speed train (Italo NTV) Venice-Salerno: Venice – Padua – Ferrara – Bologna – Florence – Rome – Naples – Salerno High-speed train (Italo NTV) Milan-Rome: Milan – Reggio Emilia – Bologna – Florence – Rome High-speed train (Italo NTV) non-stop Milan-Rome High-speed train (Italo NTV) Brescia-Rome: Brescia – Desenzano Del Garda – Peschiera Del Garda – Verona – Bologna – Florence – Rome High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciarossa) Milan-Venice: Venice – Padua – Vicenza – Verona –Brescia – Milan (some routes have been extended, from Milan to Turin or Genoa, from Verona to Bolzano, and from Venice to Udine and Trieste) High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciargento) Rome-Puglia: Rome – Caserta – Benevento – Puglia (with stops in Foggia, Barletta and Bari, and an extended service continuing on to Brindisi and Lecce) High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciargento) Rome-Reggio Calabria: Rome – Naples Afragola – Salerno – Paola – Lamezia Terme – Rosarno – Villa S. G. – Reggio Calabria High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciargento) Rome-Genoa: Rome – Florence – Pisa – La Spezia – Genoa High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciabianca) Rome-Genoa: Rome – Pisa – La Spezia – Genoa (with extensions towards Milan or Turin and with stops in Civitavecchia, Grosseto, Campiglia M., Livorno, Viareggio and Massa) High-speed train (Trenitalia Frecciabianca) Rome-Ravenna: Rome – Terni – Foligno – Pesaro – Rimini – Ravenna (upgraded to Frecciargento) Night train (Trenitalia Intercity Notte) Trieste-Rome: Trieste/Triest – Gorizia/Görz – Udine – Trevisio – Venice (Santa Lucia) – Venice (Mestre) – Padua – Monselice – Rovigo – Ferrara – Bologna – Arezzo – Chiusi-Chiciano Terme – Rome Night train (Trenitalia Intercity Notte) Turin-Lecce: Alessandria – Voghera – Piacenza – Parma – Bologna – Rimini – Pescara – Termoli – San Severo – Foggia – Barletta – Bisceglie – Molfetta – Bari – Monopoli – Fasano – Ostuni – Brindisi Night train (Trenitalia Intercity Notte) Rome-Bolzano Night train (Trenitalia Intercity Notte) Milan-Lecce Night train (Trenitalia Intercity Notte) Milan-Palermo Domestic Regional train (Trenitalia Regional Express) Venice-Bologna: Venice – Padua – Monselice – Rovigo – Ferrara – Bologna Regional train (Trenitalia Regional Express) Venice-Verona: Venice – Padua – Vicenza – San Bonifacio – Verona Regional train (Trenitalia Regional) Venice-Verona: Venice – Mira Mirano – Padua – Grisignano di Zocco – Vicenza – San Bonifacio – Verona Regional train (Trenitalia Regional) Venice-Udine: Venice – Treviso – Udine Regional train (Trenitalia Regional) Venice-Conegliano: Venice – Treviso – Conegliano Regional train (Trenitalia Regional) Venice-Portogruaro Caorle: Venice – Medolo – San Donà di Piave – Portogruaro Caorle Regional train (Trenitalia Regional) Venice-Trieste: Venice – Portogruaro Carole – Monfalcone – Trieste/Triest Regional train (Trenitalia Regional) Venice-Trieste via Gorizia: Venice – Treviso – Udine – Gorizia/Görz – Trieste/Triest Regional train (Trenitalia Regional) Venice-Adria: Venice – Piove di Sacco – Adria Regional train (Trenitalia Regional) Venice-Rovigo/Ferrara: Venice – Padua – Monselice – Rovigo – Ferrara Regional train (Trenitalia Regional) Venice-Bassano del Grappa: Venice – Piombino Dese – Castelfranco Veneto – Bassano del Grappa Cross-border
(D for Germany, A for Austria, F for France, CH for Switzerland, GB for United Kingdom)
On 11 December 2016, all ÖBB EuroNight services were rebranded as "Nightjet". Intercity train (ÖBB Railjet operated by Trenitalia) Venice-Vienna: Venice – Treviso – Udine – Tarvisio – Villach (A) – Klagenfurt (A) – Leoben (A) – Bruck (A) – Wiener Neustadt (A) – Vienna (A) Intercity train (Trenitalia Eurocity) Geneva-Venice: Geneva/Genf (CH) – Lausanne (CH) – Montreux (CH) – Sion (CH) – Brig (CH) – Domodossola – Gallarate – Milan – Brescia – Peschiera del Garda – Verona – Padua – Venice Intercity train (ÖBB Eurocity operated by Trenitalia) Munich-Venice: Munich (D) – Rosenheim (D) – Innsbruck (A) – Brenner (A) – Bolzano – Verona – Venice Night train (ÖBB EuroNight operated by Trenitalia) Vienna-Venice: Vienna (A) – Wiener Neustadt (A) – Sankt-Pölten (A) – Linz (A) – Salzburg (A) – Villach (A) – Udine – Conegliano – Treviso – Venice Tourist train (Venice-Simplon Orient Express) Venice-London: Venice – Verona – Innsbruck (A) – Paris (East) (F) – London (Victoria) (GB) operated by Treni Turistici Italiani.
Traffic The station is used by about 82,000 passengers per day, or a total of around 30 million passengers per annum.
Every day, approximately 450 trains stop at the station. Long-distance trains use the central platforms, and the regional and suburban platforms are located to the west.
The station is the terminus of several famous trains, including the Venice Simplon Orient Express.
Interchange
Overview The station is connected with the rest of Venice by the Vaporetto (public water bus) or private water taxi boats. The nearby Piazzale Roma is the departure point for all car services and taxis for the mainland.
Vaporetto lines in the transit station The stop (dock) is called Ferrovia and is served by eight Actv Vaporetto lines:
1 P.le Roma – Ferrovia – Rialto – San Marco – Lido 2 San Zaccaria – Giudecca – Tronchetto – P.le Roma – Ferrovia – Rialto – San Marco – (Lido) 4.1 Murano – F.te Nove – Ferrovia – P.le Roma – Giudecca – San Zaccaria – F.te Nove – Murano 4.2 Murano – F.te Nove – San Zaccaria – Giudecca – P.le Roma – Ferrovia – F.te Nove – Murano 5.1 Lido – F.te Nove – Ferrovia – P.le Roma – San Zaccaria – Lido 5.2 Lido – San Zaccaria – P.le Roma – Ferrovia – F.te Nove – Lido 3 Murano – Ferrovia – P.le Roma (direct line) N San Zaccaria – Giudecca – Tronchetto – P.le Roma – Ferrovia – Rialto – San Marco – Lido (night line)
See also
History of rail transport in Italy List of railway stations in Veneto Rail transport in Italy Railway stations in Italy
References
External links
"Grandi Stazioni SpA" official website Stazioni del Mondo – Description and images of Venezia Santa Lucia station