Rust whispers tales here at the ex Stazione di Prosecco. Once a vital artery connecting Trieste to Vienna, it now stands as a silent sentinel. This station, located in Sgonico but serving Prosecco, a neighborhood of Trieste, has a rich past. The ex Stazione di Prosecco played a pivotal role in the movement of livestock. It was the main transit point for live and butchered meat coming from the Balkan Peninsula into Italy. Imagine the bustling scene. The air was thick with the sounds and smells of animals and commerce. It was also a marketplace. People came to negotiate the purchase of animals destined for slaughter. Overcrowding and bureaucratic delays created difficult conditions. Animals often died, especially during the hot summer months.
The fortunes of the ex Stazione di Prosecco began to wane in the late 1970s. Italian economic policy increasingly favored purchases within the EEC. This penalized acquisitions from third countries. Consequently, the number of trains passing through diminished. Its function as a market faded away. In 1972, Italy and France secured a prohibition on the purchase of live animals from Eastern Europe. This was known as the safeguard clause from the EEC. Two years later, the clause was rescinded. It was exchanged for the obligation of non-interest-bearing deposits. These deposits equaled the value of the purchases at the Banca d’Italia. In 1975, a specific license was introduced for imports. These restrictions reduced the station’s use to transit for convoys headed to African countries.
Despite this decline, expansion and modernization work occurred in 1979. It was based on a development plan approved by the government in 1973. Even though Ferrovie dello Stato did not directly request it. The ex Stazione di Prosecco was officially decommissioned on February 26, 2012. Today, only the two passing tracks remain. All other tracks and switches have been removed. The station is a phantom. Though signs still point to it, the ticket office and waiting room are inhabited only by ghosts.
Before the rise of the Villa Opicina hub, Prosecco was the gateway to the East. It was the last station on Italian soil. The railway continued towards Vienna via Ljubljana and Graz. The tracks are still electrified. Passenger trains no longer stop here. Nearby stands a small house. It was once occupied by railway employees. Today, a 64-year-old woman lives there. She used to work at the adjacent customs agency. She remembers four shipping companies that operated nearby. They handled the customs clearance of livestock transported by rail. These companies were Italsempione, Gottardo Ruffoni, Tommaso Prioglio, and Fratelli Prioglio. Only Fratelli Prioglio survives today. The huge concrete sheds of the others have succumbed to rust. There is also asbestos.
The ex-customs agent shows the remains of Gottardo Ruffoni. It is a museum of decay. Mountains of dismantled tracks lie before the gate. Trains pass by occasionally. Beyond the tracks, dogs bark from nearby houses. Silence descends beyond the gate. Abandoned buildings stand like beached whales. Rubble and scrub are all that remain of the old agency. Old scraps of documents, stables, mangers, and large iron rings litter the spectral site. Animals were once tied to these rings awaiting their death. After border changes following World War II, livestock traffic shifted from Villa Opicina to Prosecco. Back then, 200 to 300 freight cars stopped here daily. Now, only two desolate tracks remain at the ex Stazione di Prosecco. Animals arrived from Eastern Europe. Traders from major Italian companies came to select livestock. In the late 1980s, road transport surpassed rail. The Italian market turned to French imports. Despite requests to enhance the efficient station, a warehouse-refrigerator was built. Also many tracks. The waiting times were biblical. About 15 years. They proved futile. The ex Stazione di Prosecco was closed and the rails removed. Now, it is a relic of a bygone era. A testament to changing times and shifting fortunes.