Sicilian Secondary Railways Serving Inner Areas: Sulphur Extraction, Citrus Trade and Rural Development

This study reconstructs the contribution of Sicily’s secondary railways to the eco-nomic integration of the island’s inner areas from the late nineteenth to the twentieth century. Drawing on archival records, historical cartography and railway statistics, it first delineates the network of narrow and standard-gauge lines that channelled sulphur and citrus traffic from inland districts to the main seaports. The discussion then focus-es on the Catania – Regalbuto line, conceived in the nineteenth century as a branch of the Circumetnea railway and later dubbed the “Oranges line”. The article traces the route variants forged by municipal rivalries, assesses the line’s logistical role within the Simeto and Salso valleys and explains its gradual decline, accelerated both by the failure to extend the track toward Nicosia and Palermo and by the post-war shift to road haulage. The case study thus provides a lens for examining the interplay between rail infra-structure and peripheral territories, where strategic development policies have histori-cally been implemented slowly and in a fragmented way.

Keywords: Secondary Railways, Inner Areas, Freight Traffic, Local Development.

Giulio Pappa, Le ferrovie secondarie siciliane a servizio delle aree interne: produzione dello zolfo, agrumi e sviluppo rurale in "STORIA URBANA " 183/2026, pp 79-98, DOI: 10.3280/SU2026-183005