The City of Naples in Italy has inaugurated Line 6 of its metro network, 11 years after the line closed due to a building collapse.
It used the disaster and closure to begin an expansion project, which has added four stations to the renewed Line 6.
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The 6km line runs from Piazza Municipio to Mostra d’Oltremare and stops at eight stations.
Naples Mayor Gaetano Manfredi said: “An important metro line is coming into operation because it serves a fundamental part of the city and improves the public transport service.
“This line has a very troubled history, but after forty years of various vicissitudes, the service is finally opening.”
Travel along the full route of the newly expanded line will take 15 minutes, and passengers will be able to change to the network’s Line 1 and other rail and ferry services at the Piazza Municipio station.
Manfredi revealed that €850m ($927m) had been invested in the line, primarily funded by the EU, with another €400m secured for a further expansion to Campegna and the construction of a new depot.
Around €200m of the funding has also been allocated to the purchase of new rolling stock from Hitachi Rail, which will supply 22 new trains for Line 6 from 2026, replacing the smaller vehicles used for initial operations and increasing the line’s capacity.
Edoardo Cosenza, Naples’ councillor for infrastructure and mobility, said: “The 22 trains in production that will gradually be introduced will allow us to guarantee a service in both directions with a frequency of one run every 4 and a half minutes.”
