Attraverso il paesaggio. Un viaggio lungo le reti ferroviarie secondarie in Trentino Alto-Adige

The systems of railway networks reveal a piece of our history and of our territory full of stories crossing heterogeneous and beautiful landscapes: the construction of cities, the emancipation of communities, the post-war rebirth, the territorial and economic development. It represents the history and the evolution of large infrastructural works, high speed, and enormous investments as well as the related return of social conflicts, contamination of natural territories, and huge amount of abandoned and disused railways. The minor railway routes, mainly located in the internal areas of the territory, have been built in the late nineteenth century. At that time, their constructions were seen as a heavy intrusion in uncontaminated natural environments. Recently, the restoration and reuse of these abandoned systems have produced many benefices for the territories: they have been transformed from obsolete ruins into estimable heritage, becoming integral part of the naturalistic and cultural environment. This process has happened in several areas of Trentino Alto-Adige and some cases will be explored by this contribution.