Rome, the “Eternal City”, and the historic capital of Italy has a population of just under 3 million with many very built up and crowded areas. The River Tiber runs north – south just to the west of the city centre with the tiny independent state – The Vatican City – just west of the Tiber in line with the city centre. Rome is served by three Metro lines, A, B, and C, and eight heavy rail suburban lines operated by Trenitalia, the State Railway.
Some suburban lines start from Termini Station in the heart of the city but others originate at Tiburtina or pass through Tiburtina on journeys between suburbs. Tiburtina is a little out of the city centre but linked to Metro Line B that provides an onwards link into the heart of the city. Most of the heavy rail routes are served by double deck emus built by Ansaldo Breda with Hitachi. Congestion is a problem that has to be solved since on the heavy rail tracks are high-speed long distance trains heading for Florence in the north, and Naples to the south. A small tramway network serves inner areas of Rome.
The three Metro lines have been built in relatively recent years and provide a key service to many suburban locations. Line A runs from the western suburbs through Termini station and then heads to the south west suburbs. Line B runs from the south roughly north to Termini station then north east to Tiburtina station before terminating at the suburb of Rebibbia. Recently a branch has been added running north to Jonio. Line C was built from the suburbs inwards towards the city and at present ends at Lodi where it connects with suburban trains bound for Termini but soon will be extended further to link with Metro Line A and then Line B. In the long-term Line C will be extended into the crowded north western suburbs. A major plan is to build a Ring Line right round the city centre – copying the concept of Tokyo’s Yamanote Line. Much of the freight traffic passing through the city will be fed around the Ring Line creating space on older routes for an increase in passenger services. The eight heavy rail suburban routes are often poorly served having single track sections or poor connections to the heart of the city. Some routes have no more than an hourly service with the occasional extra at peak hours. Most of these deficiencies are being seen to at vast expense and service frequencies of a train every 6 – 10 minutes is planned.
A major transport interchange is being built at Pigneto on Metro Line C and providing links to suburban railway routes to the Airport, suburban railways to the coast at Nettuno, Cassino, Anzio, and Formia, north to Tiburtina and Orte, and north west to Viterbo. One of the few tram routes passes the new interchange and will be rebuilt to make an excellent connection with the other modes. Many local bus routes will similarly be part of the Pigneto interchange. Part of any massive projecct like these being undertakn in Rome is an upgrade in signalling and adjustments to the track. Firm orders have been placed with Hitachi (with Ansaldo Breda) for 12 5-car and 53 six-car double deck emus. All this is being undertaken without too much slippage in the original timetable for the work.
Iain Frew