Recovery of abandoned infrastructure and “territorial projects”: a new balance between Bergamo and its mountains

The Seriana and Brembana Alpine valleys, between the 19th and 20th centuries were affected by the construction of two different railway lines. At the end of the 1960s, they were replaced by bus service lines. During the 1980s, the increase of road traffic led local institutions to develop models of sustainable mobility based on alternative transportation systems. The recovery of the aban- doned railways was considered one of the most suitable option, with a new tram-like service connected with the mobile system. Then it was possible to start new tram-like services that configure their use within the mobility system of the city of Bergamo. The success of the T1-Seriana valley line has strengthened the request for the construction of a second tramway T2 Brembana valley line and for the extension of the T1. The recovery of the two abandoned railways represented one of the main topic of a debate concerning the need of territorial integration of the lines.