Venezia Santa Lucia (Italian: Stazione di Venezia Santa Lucia) (IATA: XVQ) 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 (Italian: Centro storico).
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 (English: Liberty Bridge).
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 267 kilometres (166 mi) mark of the Milan–Venice railway.
A bridge over the Grand Canal, the Ponte degli Scalzi (or Ponte dei Scalzi) (English: Bridge of the Discalced), 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
Steam train from Santa Lucia to Bassano del Grappa, August 1973An Italo train at the stationAn Intercity Notte train arriving at the station
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 architectAngiolo 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.[2]
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.[3][4]
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 16 platforms.
The station is used by about 82,000 passengers per day, or a total of around 30 million passengers per annum.[2]
Every day, approximately 450 trains stop at the station.[2] Long-distance trains use the central platforms, and the regional and suburban platforms are located to the west.
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)
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