Line A (Rome Metro)
Encyclopedia
Line A of the Rome Metro
Rome Metro
The Rome Metro is an underground public transportation system that operates in Rome, Italy and opened in 1955. There are currently two metro lines, the A line and the B line . A third line, the green C line, and a new branch of the B line, are currently under construction. Plans have also been...

 runs across the city from the north-west terminus of Battistini
Battistini (Rome Metro)
Battistini is an underground station on Line A of the Rome Metro, situated at the junction of via Mattia Battistini and via Ennio Bonifazi, in the 19th district...

 to the south-east terminus at Anagnina
Anagnina (Rome Metro)
Anagnina is the south-eastern terminus of Line A of the Rome Metro. It is located at the junction of the Via Tuscolana and the Via Anagnina, close to the depot of Osteria del Curato. The station is at 53 meters above sea level....

 and intersects with Line B
Line B (Rome Metro)
Line B is a metro line serving Rome, Italy, and part of the Rome Metro. Despite its name, Line B was the first line to be built in the city. It crosses Rome diagonally from north-east, starting at Rebibbia station, to south, terminating at Laurentina, in the EUR district. It crosses line A at...

 at Termini
Termini (Rome Metro)
Termini is an underground station of the Rome Metro. The station was inaugurated on 10 February 1955, as a station on Line B and later became an interchange with Line A. The station is found in Piazza dei Cinquecento, under the Termini rail terminal...

. The line is marked orange on metro maps.

Normally very crowded, Line A is estimated to transport nearly half a million people daily.

History

In 1959 approval was granted for the construction of a second metropolitan railway line in Rome, from the area of Osteria del Curato to Prati
Prati (rione of Rome)
Prati is the XXII rione of Rome. Its logo is the shape of Hadrian's mausoleum, in a blue color on a silver background. Hadrian's mausoleum was not in this area, but in the rione Borgo, bordering Prati to the south. This is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Rome.In Piazza Della Libertà, on...

, passing through the city centre and intersecting with the existing line (inaugurated in 1955) at Termini Station.

Work began in 1964 in the Tuscolana area and immediately ran into unexpected delays and difficulties, an example of which was the disruption caused to traffic in the south-east of Rome by the cut and cover method of digging. The work was suspended and resumed 5 years later, with tunnelling machines which, although helping to ease traffic problems, caused vibration damage to buildings.

Archaeological discoveries were frequent during the work, in particular in the area of Piazza della Repubblica, and required changes to the planning. The uncovered remains were put on show in protective glass display cases in Repubblica
Repubblica - Teatro dell'Opera (Rome Metro)
Repubblica - Teatro dell'Opera is an underground station on Line A of the Rome Metro. The station was inaugurated in 1980 and takes its name from the Piazza della Repubblica underneath which it lies.-Located nearby:* Piazza della Repubblica...

 station. The tunnelling work and connected archaeological discoveries were portrayed in Federico Fellini's film Roma
Roma (1972 film)
Roma, also known as Fellini's Roma, is a 1972 semi-autobiographical, poetic film depicting director Federico Fellini's move from his native Rimini to Rome as a youth. It is formed by a series of loosely connected episodes. The plot is minimal, and the only character to develop significantly is...

.

The line begun service in 1980, from Anagnina to Ottaviano and took the name of Line A, while the existing Termini-Laurentina line was called Line B. In the early 1990s, work began on an extension to Line A from Ottaviano to Battistini, which opened during 1999 and 2000.

Opening dates

  • 19 February 1980: Ottaviano - Cinecittà
  • 11 June 1980: Cinecittà - Anagnina
  • 29 May 1999: Ottaviano - Valle Aurelia
    Valle Aurelia (Rome Metro)
    Valle Aurelia is an underground station on line A of the Rome Metro, situated between via Angelo Emo and via Baldo degli Ubaldi. The station was inaugurated in 1999....

  • 1 January 2000: Valle Aurelia - Battistini

Rolling stock

In January 2005, the 1980 rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...

 MA100 series began to be replaced by new design, air-conditioned S/300 trains, built by the Spanish company CAF (Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles
Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles is a rail equipment manufacturer based in Beasain in the Basque Country, Spain. Equipment manufactured by CAF includes light rail vehicles, rapid transit trains, railroad cars and locomotives, as well as variable gauge axles that can be fitted on any...

) identified as MA300 series.

The S/300 trains today make up the larger share of Line A's rolling stock. They also are some of the first cars to feature automated announcements.

Station announcements

In the S/300 cars, upon leaving a station, the next stop is announced as well as which side of the train the doors will open on. Upon entering the next station, the name of the station and which side the doors will open on is repeated. Once the train stops, several beeps go off as the doors open. A higher pitch chime sounds before the doors close. The cycle then repeats.

For example, this is how the announcements play for a train stopping at Barberini:

Upon leaving either Spagna
Spagna (Rome Metro)
Spagna is an underground station on Line A of the Rome Metro, which was inaugurated in 1980. It is situated in the Campus Martius and is named after the nearby Piazza di Spagna....

 or Repubblica, the announcement says:

"Prossima Fermata: Barberini – Fontana di Trevi. Uscita lato destro." (Translation: "Next stop: Barberini - Trevi Fountain. Right side exit.")

Then when the train enters Barberini, the announcement plays:

"Barberini – Fontana di Trevi. Uscita lato destro." (Translation: "Barberini - Trevi Fountain. Right side exit.")

Accidents

On October 17, 2006 an accident caused the death of one person and injury to more than 100 others. More information is available in the 2006 Rome metro crash
2006 Rome metro crash
The 2006 Rome Metro crash occurred on October 17, 2006 at 9:37am local time , when one train ploughed in another train as it unloaded passengers at the Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II underground station in the city centre, killing a 30-year-old Italian woman, named Alessandra Lisi, and injuring about...

article.

Possible extensions

Further extensions to Line A are being considered to the north, from Battistini to Torrevecchia (2 km and 2 stations).

Maps


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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