Is the A or B metro line older?
Rome’s first subway station was intended to connect Termini Station with EUR. Inaugurated on February 9, 1955, the original section, known at the time as the “E42 Railway,” reached the EUR area (then called E42), the new district designed for the 1942 World’s Fair, which, however, was not held because of World War II.
The history of the metro in Rome
Work on this line began as early as the 1930s during the Fascist regime but was interrupted by the war, a period during which many tunnels were used as air raid shelters. Construction did not resume until 1948 and was completed in 1955 with the official inauguration by President Luigi Einaudi and Cardinal Vicar Clemente Micara. At that time it was the first subway not only in Rome, but in the whole of Italy.
This first line, later christened Line B, represented the first step in a metro project that would develop very slowly: the second line, Line A, was inaugurated twenty-five years later, in 1980 to connect Ottaviano to Cinecittà; 10 years later Metro B reached Rebibbia; while the third, Line C, was opened only in 2015 with sections still under completion. linking Termini station to the EUR district.
Despite lagging behind other European capitals, Rome was a pioneer in Italy in adopting the metro system, which today has three operational lines and a fourth still in the planning stage.
Upcoming Metro C stations.
The opening of the Colosseo and Porta Metronia stations of Rome’s Metro C, initially scheduled for September 2025, has been postponed due to the prolongation of the acceptance and technical testing work, which will extend throughout the summer, with the end of activities expected towards the end of September.
Work on the T3 section, which connects St. John’s to the two new stops, began in 2013 and has since been subject to numerous delays, caused in part by the discovery of important archaeological finds, such as a Roman barracks unearthed during excavations, which have required careful underground museum displays. In addition, the recent renaming of the stations has resulted in costly and complex upgrades to the train management system, further impacting the schedule.
The stations will be not only strategic interchanges, but also underground museum spaces.