The Vatican Railway ( it, Ferrovia Vaticana) was opened in 1934 to serve Vatican City and its only station, Vatican City ( , or ). The main rail tracks are standard gauge and long, with two freight sidings, making it the shortest national

railway system Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

in the world.Korn, Frank J. 2000. ''A Catholic's Guide to Rome: Discovering the Soul of the Eternal City''. Paulist Press. . p. 49. Access to the Italian rail network is over a viaduct to Roma San Pietro railway station, and is guaranteed by the

Lateran Treaty The Lateran Treaty ( it, Patti Lateranensi; la, Pacta Lateranensia) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between the Kingdom of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle ...

dating from 1929. The tracks and station were constructed during the reign of

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City from ...

, shortly after the treaty. Beginning in 2015, one passenger service runs each Saturday morning with passengers for

Castel Gandolfo Castel Gandolfo (, , ; la, Castrum Gandulphi), colloquially just Castello in the Castelli Romani dialects, is a town located southeast of Rome in the Lazio region of Italy. Occupying a height on the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Albano, Castel G ...

. Most other rail traffic consists of inbound freight goods, although the railway has occasionally carried other passengers, usually for symbolic or ceremonial reasons.

History

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI ( la, Gregorius XVI; it, Gregorio XVI; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in 1 June 1846. He h ...

(died 1846) prevented the construction of railways in the Papal States, and was reputed to have said "''chemin de fer, chemin d'enfer''" ("road of iron, road of hell"). Gregory XVI's successor,

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX ( it, Pio IX, ''Pio Nono''; born Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878, the longest verified papal reign. He was notable for convoking the First Vatican ...

, began the construction of a rail line from Bologna to

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

but the territory was seized by the armies of the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1860 before it was completed. The utility of rail travel for the mass pilgrimages of the 19th century, beginning with those at

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Châ ...

circa 1858, was one factor that softened opposition to such technology within the Roman Curia. The construction of a railway station in Vatican City and its linkage to the Italian rail lines was guaranteed by the

of 11 February 1929. The Directorate of New Railway Construction of the Ministry of Public Works of the Kingdom of Italy implemented this provision with construction beginning on 3 April 1929, to establish earthworks 38 m above sea level (the height of the "Roma - San Pietro" station) between Piazza Santa Marta and the Governor's Palace, Vatican. The construction of the viaduct leading to Vatican City was paid for by the Italian government; the station within the Vatican was financed from the ₤750 million indemnity agreed to in the Lateran Treaty's financial section. The total cost of construction was reported to be ₤24 million. The station building ( see below) was constructed between 1929 and 1933. The first locomotive entered the Vatican in March 1932. The station was opened officially on 2 October 1934. A Railway Convention was ratified between Italy and Vatican City on 12 September 1934, on which date the property passed from ''

Ferrovie dello Stato Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

'' (Italian State Railways) to the Holy See. In October 1934 the Ministry of Public Works gave the completed rail lines to Vatican City and Ferrovie dello Stato, respectively. ''Legge sulle fonti del diritto'' (7 June 1929) made Italian railway legislation binding on Vatican-controlled railways.

1940s onwards

In late March 1944, during the allied

bombing of Rome in World War II The bombing of Rome in World War II took place on several occasions in 1943 and 1944, primarily by Allied and to a smaller degree by Axis aircraft, before the city was liberated by the Allies on June 4, 1944. Pope Pius XII was initially unsucce ...

, the Vatican discovered a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

munitions train parked on the line by the Vatican railway station. The railway station was the only building in the Vatican to be hit during the Second World War. Pope John XXIII, on 4 October 1962, became the first pope to use the Vatican railway during his pilgrimage to Loreto and

Assisi Assisi (, also , ; from la, Asisium) is a town and ''comune'' of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, born around ...

one week before the beginning of Second Vatican Council using the Italian presidential train; the trip was broadcast on the

Eurovision Network Eurovision is a pan-European television telecommunications network owned and operated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). It was founded 1954 in Geneva, Switzerland, and its first official transmission took place on 6 June 1954. Major tel ...

. Prior to John's trip in 1962,

had been both the last pope to visit Loreto (as the head of the Papal States) and the last pope to travel by train.Prusak, Bernard P. 2004. ''The Church Unfinished: Ecclesiology Through the Centuries''. Paulist Press. . p. 271. John XXIII also arranged for the major relics of

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of ...

to be transferred to Venice using the Vatican railway.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

used the railway a few times for symbolic purposes, as early as 8 November 1979, but did not use the railway to leave Rome until 24 January 2002.Holy See Press Office. 28 January 2001. Trans. Glyn Williams.
The Vatican City State Railway
"

2000s onwards

On 21 May 2011, a special train ran from Vatican City station to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Caritas. Pope Benedict XVI used the railway for a pilgrimage to

on 27 October 2011. On 18 April 2013, the Turin Group of Train Friends () departed on a rail tour from

Roma Ostiense railway station Roma Ostiense is a railway station in Piazza dei Partigiani serving the Ostiense district of Rome, Italy, a short distance from the Porta San Paolo. It is run by the Rete Ferroviaria Italiana arm of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane group and t ...

to arrive into Vatican City station using two ALn 776 rail cars belonging to Seatrain, which also performed a shunt into the tunnel, then departed with three goods wagons. Pope Francis's desire to open the Church's treasures to the public has resulted in a weekly special train from Vatican City Station that is open to the public and is provided by the Vatican Museums and the Italian railway. In 2015, this train tour opened to tourists for the first time.

Railway station

The Vatican City railway station (in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional It ...

, ''Stazione Città del Vaticano'' or ''Stazione Vaticana'') is the only railway station of the Vatican Railway. It was built approximately from the Entrance Gateway by architect

Giuseppe Momo Giuseppe Momo (1875–1940) was an Italian architect and engineer, perhaps best known for the Scala Momo in the Vatican Museums cast by Ferdinando Marinelli Artistic Foundry of Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central It ...

. Construction began on 3 April 1929, and the station began operation in 1933. Its simple white, Italian marble design was described by writer

H. V. Morton Henry Canova Vollam Morton (known as H. V. Morton), (26 July 1892 – 18 June 1979) was a journalist and pioneering travel writer from Lancashire, England. He was best known for his many books on London, Great Britain and the Holy Land. He f ...

as "more like a branch of the Barclay Bank in London." The station building is composed of white marble, and its dimensions are . The central body is tall and the lateral ones tall. Part of the station building continues in use as passenger station and goods (rail freight) office, whilst part now houses the Vatican numismatic and philatelic museum. The railway station also houses the small Vatican duty-free department store, a private facility open only to Vatican subjects and diplomats.Vatican Tax-Free Department Store Busy This Season
/ref>

Route

The Vatican City State Railway branches off from the Rome to Viterbo railway line at the Roma San Pietro railway station and crosses Gelsomino valley via a 143.12 metre long masonry viaduct of eight 15.30 metre arches (bearing the Fasces and the Savoy Coat of Arms), which crosses Viale Vaticano (which it interrupts) and

Via Aurelia The ''Via Aurelia'' (Latin for "Aurelian Way") is a Roman road in Italy constructed in approximately 241 BC. The project was undertaken by Gaius Aurelius Cotta, who at that time was censor.Hornblower, Simon, & Antony Spawforth. ''The Oxford Cl ...

. The Via delle Cave and the Via del Gelsomino are also interrupted by the viaduct and thus merge with the Via Aurelia. The single track section of the route up until the border was subsequently fitted with overhead electric line. The first 100 metres of overhead line is always supplied with 3000V DC, with the remainder of the distance only energised as needed. Before passing through the Vatican City walls and terminating in the Vatican City railway station, the line passes under an arch decorated with the Coat of Arms of

with a two-piece 35.5 ton iron gate which slides into the recesses of the Vatican walls. The gate is closed when there is no traffic scheduled on the line. The railway has two tracks (partly located in Rome, outside the gateway), but only one is served by a station platform. Two dead-end loading tracks, for freight wagons, are situated on the northwest side of the building. They are connected to the main track that ends in a headshunt in a straight tunnel under the hillside. The station is near the

Vatican Gardens The Gardens of Vatican City ( la, Horti Civitatis Vaticanae), also informally known as the Vatican Gardens ( it, Giardini Vaticani) in Vatican City, are private urban gardens and parks which cover more than half of the country, located in the ...

, behind

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal en ...

. Other buildings near the station are the Governatorate Palace and the

Domus Sanctae Marthae The Domus Sanctae Marthae (Latin for Saint Martha's House; it, Casa Santa Marta) is a building adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. Completed in 1996, during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, it is named after Martha of Bethan ...

. The gateway separating the station from rail track in Italian territory is an opening in the

Leonine Wall Leonine may refer to: Lions * Leonine facies, a face that resembles that of a lion Popes Leo * Leonine City, a part of the city of Rome * Leonine College, a college for priests in training, in Rome, Italy * Leonine Prayers, a set of prayers that ...

Uses

Freight

The Vatican railway has been used primarily for importing goods. Extensive freight operations were witnessed before road transport became more common and less expensive. Although the volume has decreased, there are still regular freight services into the Vatican.Information about the traffic on www.vatican.va
/ref>

Passengers

There have been intermittent periods of ordinary passenger train operation into the Vatican, but in contemporary use the Vatican City station has only had regularly scheduled passenger service trains since 2015. A weekly special passenger train operates, provided by the Vatican Museums and the Italian railway. A special train for invited guests and media reporters inaugurated the run on 11 September 2015. This inaugural train was hauled by

FS Class 625 The Ferrovie dello Stato (FS, Italian State Railways) Class 625 ( it, Gruppo 625) is a class of 2-6-0 'mogul' steam locomotives in Italy. The class is commonly known by the nickname ''Signorine'' (Italian for 'young ladies', also shared with the ...

steam locomotive 625-017, built in 1915. The same engine was used by the Italian royal family, and also hauled the train which carried Pope John XXIII to Loreto and Assisi in 1962. The regular service has operated every Saturday since 12 September 2015, with visitors to the Vatican Museums boarding a train to travel to the Pontifical Villas in Castel Gandolfo. Scheduled trains use contemporary suburban rolling stock to travel from Vatican City railway station to Albano Laziale, via Castel Gandolfo. At the station visitors can tour the newly created museum and pontifical gardens, and visit the town. The tour returns the same afternoon, terminating one stop to the south at .

Rolling stock

Pope Pius XI's planned papal train was never constructed, and the

Vatican City State Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

has never employed any railway workers or registered any

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles ca ...

. All locomotives, carriages, and wagons (including those which currently convey goods into the Vatican) belong to the Italian Railways (FS). In 2007, Fiat donated a

New Holland Agriculture New Holland is a global full-line agricultural machinery manufacturer. New Holland agricultural products include tractors, combine harvesters, balers, forage harvesters, self-propelled sprayers, haying tools, seeding equipment, hobby tractors ...

tractor to the Pope. The tractor is normally parked at the end of the station platform, where it can be used for shunting duties instead of a locomotive. Pius IX's official train from the time of the Papal States remains on display at the

Museum of Rome The Museo di Roma is a museum in Rome, Italy, part of the network of Roman civic museums. The museum was founded in the Fascist era with the aim of documenting the local history and traditions of the "old Rome" that was rapidly disappearing, b ...

, housed in the

Palazzo Braschi Palazzo Braschi () is a large Neoclassical palace in Rome, Italy and is located between the Piazza Navona, the Campo de' Fiori, the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and the Piazza di Pasquino. It presently houses the Museo di Roma, the "Museum of Ro ...

Gallery

File:Città del Vaticano (train station).jpg, Vatican City railway station, looking westwards File:Eisenbahntor der Vatikanstadt.jpg, Gateway through Vatican walls, looking south File:Einfahrt Zug Bahnhof des Vatikan.jpg, Train entering the Vatican station File:Vatikan Tunnel.jpg, The tunnel to headshunt with parked tractor, looking north File:Bahnsteig Bahnhof Vatikan.jpg, Vatican station platform File:Roma San Pietro-Vatican Railway junction Passeggiata del Gelsomino.jpg, Start of Vatican Railway at Rome St Peters, with parallel footpath to Vatican, looking north File:Ladungsverkehr Vatikan.jpg, An FS freight car in Vatican station

References

External links

Vatican Railway information on www.vatican.va

Vatican Museums official website

Vatican Museums official on-line ticket office

Private Rail Cars of Pope Pius IX
{{good article Buildings and structures in Vatican City Railway lines in Lazio

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

Transport in Rome Railway bridges in Italy