Preliminary contest analysis for the restoring the S. Ellero-Saltino rack railway in Tuscany, Italy

Title Analysis of the socio-economic context for the purposes of a preliminary sustainability assessment for the S. Ellero-Saltino railway line

Location Tuscany, Italy

Duration January -May 2025

Funding Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze

 

Context

In the early decades of the 20th century, an 8 km long rack railway line connected the station of S. Ellero – on the Florence-Rome line – to the mountain resort of Saltino. Today, Saltino and Vallombrosa are still tourist attractions, especially during the summer season, thanks to their natural heritage and mountain climate. However, it is necessary to rethink the strategies for promoting and enhancing these places in order to revive interest among the citizens of the Metropolitan City of Florence and national and international visitors.

The restoration of the railway line between Vallombrosa and Florence via the rack railway between Sant’Ellero and Saltino could be a potential lever for enhancing the Vallombrosa area, both as an environmental and cultural resource available to the city of Florence and as a place to be relaunched through a sustainable local development strategy.

By further enhancing the context in which it is located, Vallombrosa could become a model of good practice in environmental protection, making it a sustainable mountain resort as well as a reference point for training and debate on the environment and eco-sustainability.

The Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze, based on the interest shown and awareness-raising actions carried out by various stakeholders, such as the Municipality of Reggello and the Associazione Vallombrosa – La Foresta di Firenze ETS, has involved ARCO in a preliminary context analysis that can serve as a framework for a possible feasibility study of the railway.

 

General Objective

The Local Development Unit, in collaboration with LAMA, has been involved in conducting an analysis of the socio-economic context of Saltino and Vallombrosa. This study is useful for assessing the economic and social feasibility of restoring the rack railway between Sant’Ellero and Saltino, with particular attention to the territorial, demographic, tourist and infrastructural context of the area concerned.

 

Our contribution

The analysis of the socio-economic context aims to provide useful evidence for the enhancement of the area through a mixed methods approach, combining desk analysis and qualitative interviews. The approach adopted by the research group is participatory and geared towards supporting local decision-making.

The research included:

  • an analysis of the socio-economic context of the Saltino-Vallombrosa area in the municipality of Reggello (demographics, local economy, tourism and accommodation, mobility)
  • a comparison with rack railway experiences in similar locations (benchmarking on assets, governance and promotion)
  • the definition of evolutionary scenarios for the territory and the development of strategic recommendations.

The secondary sources analysed include data from ISTAT, the Tuscany Region, the municipality of Reggello, the Chambers of Commerce and other relevant documentation. With regard to the qualitative analysis of the context, the research group conducted interviews with numerous local stakeholders, including institutional actors (Municipality of Reggello, Metropolitan City, Union of Municipalities), other key actors (Vallombrosa Carabinieri Biodiversity Department, Vallombrosani Monks, UNIFI, ProLoco, GAL) and representatives of local businesses.

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