The Naples Metro ( it, Metropolitana di Napoli; nap, Metrupulitana 'e Napule) is the

rapid transit Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...

system serving the city of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. The system comprises three underground

lines ( Line 1, Line 6 and the Naples-Aversa Metro).

History

In 1911, construction on the urban section of the

Rome–Formia–Naples railway The Rome–Formia–Naples railway—also called the Rome–Naples Direttissima in Italian ("most direct")–is part of the traditional main north-south trunk line of the Italian railway network. It was opened in 1927 as a fast link as an alternat ...

, the

Villa Literno–Napoli Gianturco railway The Villa Literno–Napoli Gianturco railway (also called the ''Naples Passante'') is a 16 km-long double track line which connects the line to Rome via Formia with the line to Salerno near Napoli Gianturco station through Naples and its n ...

was commenced, and although it was suspended for the duration of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, the line was eventually opened on 28 September 1925 as an urban railway service line, the first in Italy. This service is now known as Line 2. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the existing

Circumvesuviana Circumvesuviana () is a railway network in the east of the Naples metropolitan area, previously run by a company of the same name, now operated by Ente Autonomo Volturno. Electrically powered throughout, the system uses the narrow gauge of ...

railway was upgraded to a modern commuter rail, and also the

Cumana railway The Cumana railway ( it, Ferrovia Cumana, sometimes also known as Line 7) is a commuter railway in Campania, southern Italy, connecting Naples by two separate routes with Torregaveta, near Cuma in the town of Bacoli (about 15 km west of Na ...

became relevant for the commuter transport. In 1962, the

Circumflegrea railway The Circumflegrea railway (sometimes also known as Line 5) is a commuter railway line that connects Naples city centre with the northern Phlegraean Fields, a suburban area located west of the city. The line is operated by the Ente Autonomo Volturn ...

was opened. Construction of the first underground metro railway ( Line 1) began in 1976, and the first part opened on 28 March 1993. Initially called the ''Metropolitana Collinare'' ("Hills metro") it ran for between ''Colli Aminei'' and ''Vanvitelli''. Two years later, in 1995, the line was extended to reach ''Piscinola'' giving an overall track length of . Although progress had been made from the early setbacks and problems, it was still apparent by 1997 that the network suffered badly from the lack of network integration and poor connections, as well as the fact that large areas of Naples were not close to stations. In 1997, the city government drew up a new ''Piano Comunale dei Trasporti di Napoli'' (City Transport Plan) which called for a review of the network, improved controls over maintenance expenditure and general finances, a new tariff control system and better management of the urban rail network of Naples. The transport plan called for a three phase major redevelopment. Phase 1 would involve an expansion to a total of five lines, including major redevelopment of Line 1, and take the network up to 53 km of track (45 km of existing lines), with 68 stations (23 newly built), and 12 interchange nodes, to be completed by 2001. Phase 2 was designed to increase the network to 7 lines, with 84 stations, and 16 interchange nodes, plus 10 bus interchanges, to be completed by 2007. Phase 3 would see the network expanded to 10 rail lines with 93 km of track, and a further 30 km of new light rail (

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

lines) linking 114 stations, with 21 interchanges, and 24 bus interchanges to be completed by 2011. The plan called for 70% of Neapolitans to be living within 500 metres of a transport access point by 2011. In conjunction with the regional government of Campania, the comune government of Naples incorporated a new fully state-controlled joint-stock corporation called

Metronapoli Metronapoli SpA was an Italian company responsible for the provision of public transport in the city of Naples, and its primary function was the operation and maintenance of the Naples Metro system. It was founded on 26 July 2000 and became operat ...

, which was 99% controlled by the comune and 1% controlled by ANM (Azienda Napoletana Mobilità), with a mission statement of: "providing an efficient public rail transport service of quality to the city". In 2000, a new line, Line 9, was proposed. Intended to connect the National Archaeological Museum via the

Museo di Capodimonte Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works from other Italia ...

, providing an alternative route to part of Line 1, the project was abandoned.

took over responsibility for running the urban rail transport network of

as part of a planned massive re-invigoration of public transport in the Campania region, on 1 February 2001. The regional government announced a ''rivoluzione del ferro'' (rail revolution) which involved a planned expansion of the region's network at a cost of €3.8 billion, and would see the construction of 1,400 km of new tracks and 80 new stations for a total of 423 stations on the network within Campania. On 14 April 2001, service on Line 1 was extended from '' Vanvitelli'' to ''Museum ( Museo)'' station. In 2005, The Naples-Aversa Metro line opened between Piscinola and Mugnano. On 3 December 2005, the CIPE (Interdepartmental Committee for Economic Planning) announced over €600 million worth of funding to be spent the Metropolitana di Napoli network. €323 million was allocated for

Montesanto station The Montesanto station, in Naples, is a station located at the terminus of the Cumana and Circumflegrea railway lines, both of the former SEPSA. Structures and systems The building, in the 1880s on a design by the engineer Antonio Liotta i ...

( Cumana and Circumflegrea), €61.1 million for ''Quattro Giornate'' station ( Line 1 and Circumflegrea), with both projects to be completed by 2010, as well as €119.7 million to be spent to improve the section of Line 1 between ''Capodichino'' and ''Centro Direzionale'' and €100 million for the ''San Pasquale''–''Municipio'' section. From 23 December 2006 to 20 February 2007, a special exhibition of models and multimedia presentations was held at

Castel dell'Ovo Castel dell'Ovo ("Egg Castle") is a seafront castle in Naples, located on the former island of Megaride, now a peninsula, on the Gulf of Naples in Italy. The castle's name comes from a legend about the Roman poet Virgil, who had a reputation in ...

to showcase all of the planned improvements to the Metropolitana di Napoli network, and was extremely well received by Neapolitans. Line 6, which is categorized as a "

light metro A medium-capacity system (MCS), also known as light rapid transit or light metro, is a rail transport system with a capacity greater than light rail, but less than typical heavy-rail rapid transit. MCS’s trains are usually 1-4 cars, or 1 ligh ...

" line, opened in February 2007, running on of route and serving 4 stations. In 2009, the Naples-Aversa Metro extended to Aversa Centro. On 28 March 2011, Line 1 was extended from ''Museo'' station to ''Università''. On 17 September 2012, the '' Toledo'' station between ''Dante'' and ''Università'' opened on Line 1. On 31 December 2013, Line 1 was extended to ''

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, patr ...

'' right next to the central train station. On 2 June 2015, the station ''

Municipio ' (, ) and ' () are country subdivisions in Italy and several Hispanophone and Lusophone nations, respectively. They are often translated as "municipality". In the English language, a municipality often is defined as relating to a single city or t ...

'' (Town Hall) was opened between ''Università'' and ''Toledo'' on Line 1. In August 2021, Duomo Station began operating, its steel and glass dome delayed by subterranean archeological discoveries and related funding and construction pressures.

Operator

Azienda Napoletana Mobilità SpA is currently responsible for the transport services and maintenance of Line 1, Line 6, pedestrian subways, and the funicular railways (''Chiaia'', ''Mergellina'' and ''Montesanto'').

Network

The Naples Metro currently operates on three lines.

Future expansion

Extension work is underway on Line 1 between ''Garibaldi'' and ''Capodichino'' (

Naples International Airport Naples International Airport ( it, Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli) is the intercontinental airport serving Naples and the Southern Italian region of Campania. According to 2019 data, the airport is the fifth-busiest airport in Italy and ...

). By 2024, Line 1 will become a circular line of . Line 6 has been closed since 2013 in order for the extension work to take place. The current plan is to open the 4-station extension in December 2021. In July 2020, a new , 13 station metro line was announced; Line 10, linking Naples city centre to the Napoli Afragola railway station (which opened in 2017) via the adjacent city of

Afragola Afragola (; nap, Afrahola , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, in Italy. It is one of the 100 largest Italian cities (the ones that have a population of more than 63,000 inhabitants). The communal territory, measurin ...

. Construction on this line could begin as soon as 2021, and is expected to generate 150,000 daily passengers, or 43 million annually.

Rolling stock

* Line 1: Firema Metronapoli M1 * Line 6: T67 * Naples-Aversa Metro: Breda M100 File:Linea 1 metro napoli.jpg, Line 1 File:Lrt linea 6 metro napoli.jpg, Line 6 File:StazionePiscinola26.jpg, Naples-Aversa Metro

Travelling

Fares

UNICO NAPOLI is the integrated fare that allows to travel on all means of transport of Consortium companies in Naples. There are different kinds of tickets and passes: hourly, daily or weekend daily ticket, monthly or annual pass. The hourly ticket is Valid for 90 minutes from the first validation, while the daily ticket is valid from 00.00 to midnight of the day of validation. The owner must fill in the appropriate blanks with their name and date of birth, and must show an ID when requested.

Operations

Trains operate from 6:00 to 23:00 every day of the year.

Headway Headway is the distance or duration between vehicles in a transit system measured in space or time. The ''minimum headway'' is the shortest such distance or time achievable by a system without a reduction in the speed of vehicles. The precise defi ...

s on Line 1 are generally between 10–14 minutes, but reach a maximum of 8 minutes during weekday peak hours. Commercial speeds on Line 1 are . , line 6 is closed to the public.

Artwork

Line 1 has been renamed 'Il Metrò dell'Arte' (The Art Metro) reflecting the fact that eight stations have been upgraded to exhibit works of art. These include both permanent exhibits and the provision for temporary displays. It is intended that this theme will continue as more of the planned stations on Line 1 are opened. Museum station (stazione Museo) also displays archaeological remains and exhibits that were unearthed during the construction of the station, while others have been transferred to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (

Naples National Archaeological Museum The National Archaeological Museum of Naples ( it, Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, italic=no, sometimes abbreviated to MANN) is an important Italian archaeological museum, particularly for ancient Roman remains. Its collection includes wo ...

) above the station, from which it is named. Another initiative recently started on the Metropolitana di Napoli was to provide free books for riders on the network.

References

External links

ANM – official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Metropolitana Di Napoli 1993 establishments in Italy Railway lines opened in 1993