The cablecar system transports 500,000 passengers yearly across approximately 21,000 trips.[1][23] It was inaugurated on 1 August 1959.[23][24][25][26] In 1995 and 1996, it was modernised with double load-bearing cables built byDoppelmayr Italia,[27][24] and further renovated in spring 2017.[22][24]
START Romagna SpA operates several routes near San Marino's borders, but not within Sammarinese territory:
Route 7 terminates near the border atRovereta, and runs to Rimini's port via theSS72 state road, Cerasolo, afrazione ofCoriano, and Rimini's city centre.[28]
Route 16 runs between the border at Dogana and the village of Santa Cristina.[29]
Route 160 serves Torello, across the border from Gualdicciolo, and runs between Rimini (throughVerucchio) andNovafeltria.[30]
Sammarinese international bus service link with Rimini, Italy
Rimini and San Marino are connected by the coach companies Bonelli and Benedettini, which provide several services per day throughout the year.[3] In theCity of San Marino, the coaches depart from the central bus stop in Piazzale Marino Calcigni,[3][31] then stop inBorgo Maggiore,Domagnano,Serravalle,Dogana, and Cerasolo, before reaching Rimini'sArch of Augustus andrailway station.[3] The coaches complete the route in approximately fifty minutes.[3]
San Marino first expressed an interest in entering the management of Fellini Airport in the early 1980s.[4] Since then, the governments of San Marino and Italy have signed several bilateral agreements concerning San Marino's access to the airport.[4][5][6] As a result of these accords, all air carriers recognised by San Marino have been able to fly to Fellini Airport,[4] the Sammarinese government has been able to decide commercial routes,[32][33] Sammarinese companies have been able to operate in Italian airports without restrictions,[4] and the Sammarinese government has been able to carry out customs operations at Fellini Airport in agreement with the Italian authorities.[6]
The terminal ofFellini Airport in March 2018, since its repainting
In 2002, the Sammarinese government acquired a 3% stake in Fellini Airport's management company, Aeradria.[34] The airport was officially named Rimini-San Marino Airport.[33] In June 2018, the subsequent management company, Airiminum, repainted the terminal sign to readAeroporto Internazionale di Rimini e San Marino (Rimini and San Marino International Airport), replacing the previousAeroporto Internazionale Federico Fellini (Federico Fellini International Airport).[35]
The most significant agreement, ratified on 16 September 2013, provided San Marino a forty-year concession over some areas of Fellini Airport.[5][36][37] The areas were expected to host a private terminal, with a customs border allowing goods destined for San Marino not to pass through Italian customs.[37] As of August 2023, Sammarinese authorities still have no presence at the airport.[36]
Torraccia Airfield is San Marino's only aviation facility on its territory. It is a smallgeneral aviationaerodrome inTorraccia, a village east of thecastello of Domagnano, less than 200 metres (660 feet) from the Italian border.[7] Torraccia's onlygrassrunway was first used in 1981, but the airfield's structure was opened in 1985.[8][10] In July 2012, the runway was extended to 650 metres (2,130 feet).[7]
The airfield is owned and operated by Aeroclub San Marino,[7][8][9] aflying club with approximately 100 members.[10] In the summer, between ten and fifteen planes typically land at the airfield per day.[8][38] The airfield hosts aflight school, recreational flights and sports, and some tourist flights in small aircraft.[7][9][10]
On 3 September 1950, aheliport next to Borgo Maggiore's cablecar terminus inaugurated its maiden postal flight fromTrieste, followed by a second postal flight toRiccione for the International Stamp Fair the following day. On 16 October 1958, the heliport welcomed a helicopter bringing thepolio vaccine fromAviano Air Base.[26]
On 24 July 1959, a statue ofOur Lady of Fátima was flown to Borgo Maggiore aboard a helicopter fromForlì; the statue was used for the aerial cablecar's maiden journey.[26] On 30 June 1959, a helicopter line running between the Borgo Maggiore heliport and a heliport by Rimini's port was inaugurated.[13][14][26] Operated by Compagnia Italiana Elicotteri, the service ran several times per day,[13][14] using a fleet of four-seaterBell 47J Rangers and a three-seaterAgusta-Bell AB-47G,[13][14][26] which were serviced at Rimini's airport.[14] In 1964, the line was extended toSan Leo.[13][14] Tickets would cost up to 12,500 lire,[13] including the cablecar to the City of San Marino and a shuttle to theLeonine fortress. The service would take fifteen minutes to reach Rimini and ten minutes to reach San Leo. The service closed in 1969,[13][14] and the heliport has been replaced by aparking lot.[39][40]
In 2012, an 800-metre (1⁄2-mile) section was reopened as aheritage railway in the City of San Marino, running between Piazzale della Stazione and near Via Napoleone.[44] The restored section comprises the original railway's final horseshoe turn through the 502-metre (1,647-foot) Montale tunnel.[45][46]
Despite its short operational history, the Rimini–San Marino railway retains an important place in Sammarinese culture and history,[12] and has featured on Sammarinese postal stamps.[47][48][49][50] Both the Sammarinese and Italian governments have expressed interest in reopening the line.[44][51][52][53][54]
Between 1921 and 1960, San Marino was also served by a station on theRimini–Novafeltria railway [it] in Torello, on the other side of the international border fromGualdicciolo in San Marino's west.[55] This provided San Marino its first railway station, albeit located in Italian territory.[56][57]
^abcde"Torraccia".forgottenairfields.com. 20 August 2017. Retrieved1 January 2024.
^abcdBollini, Marco (5 July 2015)."San Marino avrà un aeroporto?" [Will San Marino have an airport?].giornalesm.com (in Italian). Retrieved1 January 2024.
^abcGiuliani-Balestrino, Maria Clotilde (2005)."La superstrada Rimini-San Marino" [The Rimini-San Marino railway](PDF).Studi e Ricerche di Geografia (in Italian).29 (1):1–4.
^Santini, Simone (1 September 2017)."Rimini-San Marino, ma che Consolare è?" [But what kind of consular road is the Rimini-San Marino?].Il Ponte (in Italian). Retrieved1 January 2024.
^"Taxi".sanmarinopertutti.com (in Italian). Retrieved31 December 2023.
^abScolari, Giancarlo (21 June 2012)."Torna il treno a San Marino" [The train returns to San Marino].Ferrovie.it (in Italian). Retrieved3 November 2023.
^Vilmos, Oszter (12 August 2012)."Kis ország, kis( )vasút" [Small country, small railway].Indóház Online (in Hungarian). Retrieved5 November 2023.
^Piccioni, Elisabetta (April 2011). "Il Viaggio Interrotto: La Ferrovia Elettrica Rimini–San Marino" [The Interrupted Journey: The Rimini–San Marino Electric Railway].I Martedì (in Italian) (292). Bologna: Centro San Domenico:18–22.
^Giuliani-Balestrino, Maria Clotilde (2005)."La superstrada Rimini-San Marino" [The Rimini-San Marino railway](PDF).Studi e Ricerche di Geografia (in Italian).29 (1):1–4.
Media related toTransport in San Marino at Wikimedia Commons