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The capital of Italy, Rome, is one of the most ancient cities in Europe and has 3 million inhabitants.

The 2-line system has an X shape, with both lines meeting at the central railway station Termini. The construction of the first line, line B south from Termini to Laurentina began in the late 1930s to be completed for the World Exhibition in 1942 (11 km, 6 km underground), but interrupted by World War II, it only opened in 1955. Many years later, in 1990, the northeastern branch to Rebibbia was finally added (8 km, 7 km underground).

Line A between Anagnina in the south and Ottaviano in the north-west near Vatican City opened in 1980 (14.5 km, almost all underground). In 1999, the first stretch of a 4.5 km western extension was put into service (Cipro-Musei Vaticani and Valle Aurelia), with the final three stations, Baldo degli Ubaldi, Cornelia and Battistini following in 2000.

Besides the Metro and the urban and suburban railways, Rome also boasts a small tram network.

19 Feb 1980: Ottaviano - Cinecittà
11 Jun 1980: Cinecittà - Anagnina
29 May 1999: Ottaviano - Valle Aurelia
01 Jan 2000: Valle Aurelia - Battistini

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09 Feb 1955: Termini - Laurentina
1990: Marconi station added, the old EUR Marconi is renamed EUR Palasport
1990: new Garbatella replaced the old one with the same name situated 200 m further north
08 Dec 1990: Termini - Rebibbia
1997: Ponte Mammolo station added
23 Jun 2003: Quintiliani station added
13 Jun 2012: Bologna - Conca d'Oro (4 km; B1)

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The Roma-Lido line (28.4 km) opened in 1924 to link Rome to the coastal town of Ostia. With a train every 15 minutes (10 min. during peak hours) it offers a metro-like service on a completely segregated route and all the stations equipped with high platforms.

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The Roma-Viterbo line, also known as Roma-Nord, is the successor of an old interurban tram line opened in 1906 from Rome to Civita Castellana, and extended to Viterbo in 1913. The section closest to Rome was rebuilt in 1932 with a 2 km tunnnel from the present terminus Flaminio. An urban service is provided every 8 minutes on the section Flaminio - Montebello (12.7 km).

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The Roma-Giardinetti line (9 km) is the successor of a former regional narrow-gauge line to Frosinone, which was curtailed at Pantano in 1984, thus converting the line into an urban railway. The section beyond Giardinetti was taken out of service in July 2008 to allow for its definitive upgrading and incorporation into the new metro line C. The line is operated with light rail vehicles, so stations rebuilt between 2002 and 2006 on the outer section had a short low-floor sections, which were only used for a few years, though.

 Projects

Line B1 is further under construction from Conca d'Oro to Jonio (2013), the future interchange with the planned Line D.

Line C
While the old light rail line to Pantano in the southeast is being upgraded to metro standard between Torrenova and Pantano, a new section is being built underground through the city centre and via Vatican to a temporary terminus at Clodio-Mazzini. In a future stage it will be extended north from there to Grottarossa. Clodio-Mazzini - Pantano will be 25.5 km long and include 30 stations. The line will be operated automatically with driverless trains being supplied by Ansaldobreda. The eastern section between San Giovanni (Line A) and Pantano will open in stages between late 2012 and 2014.

Line D is planned to run north-south parallel to the existing Line B.

See detailed map here.

ATAC (Official Site)

Roma Metropolitane (Metro Projects)

ATAC Infopoint Zoomable city map

fm3 - Private page on this suburban line

Metro & Urban Railways at Wikipedia.it

Metro C SPA (Official site about Line C construction)

More Rome Metro photos

CityRailways.it (Italian urban rail news)