The Trento-Malé-Mezzana railway line (referred to locally as the "Vacca Nonesa" or "la Trento Malé " or simply "il Tram") is a metre gauge electric railway connecting the city of Trento (192 m a.s.l.) with Mezzana (900 m a.s.l.).
From Cles it climbs up the Val di Non in a continuous sequence of woods and fruit orchards dominated by apples. The railway forms an imaginary frame to present a local territory rich in history and castles, along a sinuous path through cutbacks, tunnels, and vertiginous bridges, typical of mountain railways, with a minimum curving radius of 80 m and gradients in sections as high as 50%.
The train's top speed is 90 km/h. Before reaching Cles, the main urban centre of Val di Non, the track crosses the Noce River canyon close to the Santa Giustina Dam, which created the lake of the same name. This arched bridge in reinforced concrete over the Noce River is certainly one of the most spectacular points along the entire Trento-Malè line. It was built between 1957 and 1959 and with a span of 78 m at a height of over 140 m, for a certain period it held the record as the "highest railway bridge in the world".
Val di Non residents call the old train that ascends their valley the "Vacca Nonesa" (Non Valley Cow) because it makes a noise that closely resembles the mooing of a cow.
The Cles railway station is right beside the old town centre and trains arrive and depart approximately every hour.
For more information Tel. 0461 821000
www.trentinotrasporti.it
info@trentinotrasporti.it
You can use Google Transit to plan a journey using urban and suburban public bus and railway services. Trentino Trasporti Esercizio have integrated this service into their own database of routes and stops.
