Rome Metro

The Rome Metro is a rapid transit system that operates in Rome, Italy. It started operation in 1955, making it the oldest in the country.
The Metro comprises three lines―A, B and C ―which operate on of route, serving 77 stations. It has a daily ridership of approximately 820,000 passengers and an annual traffic of approximately 320 million passengers.
In addition to the Metro, the centre of Rome and its urban area are served by eight FL lines that surround Rome and the Lazio region, six tram lines, three commuter urban lines and the Leonardo Express, which connects Roma Termini, the central station of the city, to the Leonardo da Vinci Airport of Fiumicino, and the Civitavecchia Express, which connects the city to the main port of Rome, the Port of Civitavecchia. Network extensions are currently under construction on Line C. There are further projects for Line A, Line B, Rome–Giardinetti and for the suburban rail system. The entire transport system in Rome uses the Metrebus integrated tariff system, which can be used within the limits of the Municipality of Rome and within the limits of the urban tariff.
Line B was the first metro line inaugurated in the system, and the first official metro in Italy, but the names 'A' and 'B' were only added when the second line opened 25 years after the first. Inaugurated in post-war Italy in 1955 during the reconstruction and on the verge of the Italian economic miracle, it was designed and built for the 1942 universal exhibition desired by the fascist regime, which never took place due to the outbreak of the World War II.

Lines

Line A

Line A runs from the southeastern suburbs of Rome, then along the northeast section of downtown, and then to the northern section of the city, near Vatican City. It connects with Line B, along with many other national and regional rail services, at Termini, and with Line C at San Giovanni. It has 27 stations, with terminals at Battistini and Anagnina. It is identified by the colour orange.
Line A was the second line built in Rome. Approval was given for the construction of the city's second Metro line in 1959.
Work on Line A began in 1964 in the Tuscolana area, but suffered a series of delays caused the originally planned cut-and-cover method of construction posed serious problems for road traffic in southeast Rome. Work on the Metro was suspended and began again five years later, using bored tunnels, which partially resolved the traffic problems but caused numerous claims for compensation for vibrations caused by the machines. Work was also frequently interrupted by archaeological finds made during the excavations, particularly near Piazza della Repubblica.
Line A entered service in February 1980. In the late 1990s, it was extended from Ottaviano, in the Prati district, to Battistini to the west.
Since June 2022, the station of Valle Aurelia, on Line A, is connected with the reactivated railway station of Vigna Clara. The Vigna Clara-Valle Aurelia section is a relevant step to close the railway ring in North Rome because of the connection with the Line A, Line B and the FL3 suburban line to Viterbo.

Line B

Line B was the first Metro line in Rome. Line B connects the northeast of the city with the southwest. It has 26 stations with terminals at Rebibbia, Jonio and Laurentina. It is identified by the colour blue. Transfers are available with Line A and other rail services at Termini station.
Line B was planned during the 1930s by the fascist government to provide a rapid connection between the main train station, Termini, and a new district to the southeast of the city, E42, the planned location of the Universal Exposition, which was to be held in Rome in 1942. The exposition never took place due to Italy's entry into the Second World War in 1940. When its construction was interrupted, some of the tunnels on the city-centre side of the Metro had already been completed, and they were used as air raid shelters during the war.
Work restarted in 1948, together with the development of the site formerly designated for the Expo into a residential and business district under the name EUR. The Metro was officially opened on 9 February 1955 by the then President of the Republic, Luigi Einaudi. Regular services began the following day.
In 1990, Line B was extended from Termini to Rebibbia in the east of the city and the entire line was modernised. A new long branch was opened connecting Piazza Bologna with Conca d'Oro on 13 June 2012; the branch's last stop, Jonio, was opened on 21 April 2015.

Line C

Opened on 9 November 2014, line C currently runs radially from Colosseo, serving as an interchange station for Line B, to the eastern terminus of Pantano. It is the first Metro line to extend beyond the city boundaries in Rome.
It is planned to extend to the northwest, towards Grottarossa, via the city centre; it will also intersect with Line A at Ottaviano, and with the planned Line D at Piazza Venezia, thus creating a fourth Metro hub in Rome.
The first section of the line, from Centocelle to Pantano, is the furthest from the city centre and includes 15 of the planned 30 stops. A further section of Line C, serving six additional stations, opened on 29 June 2015, as the line's western terminus was moved from Parco di Centocelle to Lodi. On 12 May 2018, the western terminus was moved to San Giovanni. After this third phase, the line will be further extended with three stations, Porta Metronia, Colosseo, and Piazza Venezia, located in the city centre.
Progress on the line has been slow with projected completion dates being repeatedly delayed. Rome is one of the oldest cities in the world, and as such, the construction of the Metro system has encountered considerable obstacles owing to frequent archaeological discoveries. While the excavation of the tunnels themselves can be undertaken well below the probable location of most archaeological finds, the excavation of stairwells and ventilation shafts – which must, by necessity, connect with the surface – pose considerable difficulties.
The trains operating on line C are completely automated, and use the same AnsaldoBreda Driverless Metro system also featured on the Copenhagen Metro.

Archeostation

During the excavation for the central route of line C, thanks to the archeological richness of Rome's ground a new type of underground station was born, as in Paris with Louvre–Rivoli station.

San Giovanni

station was the first archeostation to be opened on 12 May 2018. Excavation to a depth of about allowed the exploration of about 21 stratifications of history up to the so-called virgin soil, the one in which man's presence is absent.
The exhibition is characterized by being a real tour with libraries for the finds along the route, explanatory panels on the walls and a temporal measurement of the historical phases that follows the path of the passengers from the atrium level to the platforms' level:

Atrium level: from Contemporary Age to Late Antiquity Age
First underground level: from Republican Age to Archaic Age
Platform level: Prehistoric Age

The various archaeological finds and exhibits include small items such as gold jewelry, coins, crockery, shells, large amphorae and elements of ancient columns and also large finds, such as the large pool, the largest reservoir ever found, located inside a farm of the imperial age.

Timeline

date	section or station	line
10 February 1955	Termini – EUR Fermi
16 February 1980	Ottaviano – Cinecittà
11 June 1980	Cinecittà – Anagnina
8 December 1990	Termini – Rebibbia Garbatella Laurentina
12 March 1993	Marconi
13 December 1995	Ponte Mammolo
29 May 1999	Ottaviano – Valle Aurelia
1 January 2000	Valle Aurelia – Battistini
23 June 2003	Quintiliani
12 June 2012	Bologna – Conca d'Oro
9 November 2014	Monte Compatri-Pantano – Parco di Centocelle
21 April 2015	Conca d'Oro – Jonio
29 June 2015	Parco di Centocelle – Lodi
12 May 2018	Lodi – San Giovanni
16 December 2025	San Giovanni – Colosseo

Network map

Rolling stock

All Rome metro lines are heavy rapid transit lines, with six-car trains, approximately 105 m long. Line A of the Rome metro uses exclusively the CAF MA 300 series, line B essentially uses the CAF MB400 series together with other CAF MA300 series trains and the historic MB 100 Ansaldobreda. Line C is the longest driverless metro in Italy and one of the largest in Europe, using Hitachi Rail Italy's driverless technology.

Service

Fares

An urban single journey ticket, the Biglietto Integrato a Tempo, costs €1.50 and is valid on the Metro, buses, trams and suburban trains inside the Rome municipality for 100 minutes from first validation. Other tickets are available, including daily, two-day, and 3-day passes, and a weekly pass, the Carta Integrata Settimanale. Monthly passes that are valid during the charged calendar month for unlimited journeys available for the personal usage or impersonal usage and may be used alternatively by different persons. Children under 10 years old travel can travel for free on public transport services when accompanied by a fare-paying adult.
Two proximity cards are available in Rome, ”èRoma” and ”Metrebus Card Red”, which can be charged with season tickets, replacing paper for this type of ticket.