Ferrovie Luganesi

Ferrovie Luganesi (FL, also known as FLP since 1950) is a Swiss railway company based in the Canton of Ticino. Founded on 15 January 1910, it operates the Lugano–Ponte Tresa railway, a metre-gauge electric line that opened on 5 June 1912. The company provides public passenger transport in the Lugano region and the Malcantone valley. In 2023 it established a subsidiary, Rete Tram-treno del Luganese SA (RTTL), to plan and execute the Lugano–Bioggio–Ponte Tresa/Manno tram project, which is intended to replace the existing railway in the coming years. The company is a private corporation (società anonima) and is not listed on a stock exchange.

Ferrovie Luganesi (FL) was founded on 15 January 1910, following a subscription launched by lawyers Luigi Balestra and Agostino Soldati, the latter having advocated for over twenty years for a railway connecting Lugano to the Malcantone region. His brother, Giuseppe Soldati, contributed 160,000 Swiss francs to establish the minimum share capital of the company. On 13 August 1910, the company obtained the concession to build and operate an electric narrow-gauge railway connecting Lugano to Ponte Tresa. The line opened to public service on 5 June 1912. The founders also intended the company to extend the line from Ponte Tresa to Sessa and Novaggio, and to build a branch to Porto Ceresio, where it would connect to the Varese tramway network and the railway to Milan. In 1918, the Federal Department of Posts and Railways studied a proposal to merge FL with the two companies operating the other narrow-gauge lines in the Lugano area: Lugano–Cadro–Dino and Lugano–Tesserete, but the project was deemed unfeasible. In 1924, the company activated a postal bus service Bioggio–Cademario–Aranno. After 1950, the Federal Office of Transport designated the company with the abbreviation FLP. On 31 October 2023, the railway company established a subsidiary: Rete Tram-treno del Luganese SA (RTTL), with initial share capital of 100,000 Swiss francs. The new company was entrusted with the design and execution phase of the Lugano–Bioggio–Ponte Tresa/Manno tram project, which is expected to replace the railway line in the coming years.

• 2023

  Established subsidiary Rete Tram-treno del Luganese SA (RTTL) on 31 October with initial capital of 100,000 CHF.

• 1950

  Federal Office of Transport designated the company with the abbreviation FLP.

• 1924

  Activated postal bus service Bioggio–Cademario–Aranno.

• 1918

  Proposal to merge with Lugano–Cadro–Dino and Lugano–Tesserete railways studied but deemed unfeasible.

• 1912

  Lugano–Ponte Tresa line opened to public service on 5 June.

• 1910

  Company founded on 15 January.

• 1910

  Obtained concession on 13 August to build and operate the Lugano–Ponte Tresa railway.

Regional public transport operator in the Lugano area.

• Lugano–Ponte Tresa railway

  Metre-gauge electric railway line connecting Lugano to Ponte Tresa.

1. 1Ferrovie Luganesi - Wikipedia (Italian)it.wikipedia.org
2. 2Ferrovie Luganesi - Wikidatawikidata.org