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 it experienced a series of delays because 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, has been 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 (Ostiense) 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 (just east of
EUR). 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 (or Expo), 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 (between
Termini and
Piramide) 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 (B1) was opened connecting
Piazza Bologna with
Conca d'Oro on 13 June 2012; the branch's last stop (and new terminus),
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 (the former terminus of the Roma–Giardinetti light railway). It is the first Metro line to extend beyond the city boundaries in Rome. It is planned to extend to the northwest, towards Grottarossa (north of the
Vatican), via the city centre; it will also intersect with Line A at Ottaviano (beside the Vatican), 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 (interchange station for line A). 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 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 Termini station, opened in 1955.
Colosseo station, opened in 2025. ==Network map==