The intrinsic value of a rail infrastructure derives not only from the type of land it crosses and therefore the people it serves, but often, and perhaps above all, from the quantity and economic value of the goods transported. The graphical representation of a railway network would take an entirely different form if it were ever to be depicted in its entirety, including every one of those small and large technological branches that are the sidings linking an area's industries with the main lines.
The history of a geographical area coincides with the history of its industry, and every industry in the days of steam needed to race to meet its market. This race started or finished in one way only: with a railway line, which carried not only goods, but countless human stories.
The line represented here was in fact, in railway operation terms, an independent railway, a regulatory aspect that enhances rather than detracts from the value of the overall significance of what this track represents in itself, serving as it did perhaps the most globally recognised of the connected companies: Alfa Romeo at Arese.