European Railroad Discussion > Streetcars in Rome 1996

My notes say these photos were taken near the Colosseum. October 1, 1996.  Are they still around?  It's been awhile.

---

---

---

I last rode that line in the fall of 2019. Newer equipment was already in place when I lived in Rome, 2001-2007. Some of those cars may still run on a line in the northern part of Rome, but I could not say for sure. I believe that ATAC has preserved some of the cars for special events. 

I, too, was in Rome in the Fall of 2019.  Riding on a tour bus near the Colosseum I saw more modern style cars. 
On my first visit to Rome in 1960 I discovered a streetcar line that circled the city passing many historical sites.  The route not only traveled through urban sections but residential areas as well.  A lenghty and pleasant way to see the city - and economical.  One fare for the full circuit.  I wonder if that route is still available.
jb

boejoe Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I, too, was in Rome in the Fall of 2019.  Riding
> on a tour bus near the Colosseum I saw more modern
> style cars. 
> On my first visit to Rome in 1960 I discovered a
> streetcar line that circled the city passing many
> historical sites.  The route not only traveled
> through urban sections but residential areas as
> well.  A lenghty and pleasant way to see the city
> - and economical.  One fare for the full
> circuit.  I wonder if that route is still
> available.
> jb

Yes, it is. tram line 3 goes from Stazione Trastevere to the Villa Borghese. You can also transfer to line 19 (which uses the same tracks for part of the route) to arrive at Ottaviano, the Metro stop for the Vatican Museums. 

According to the Rome transit site, you can still rent historic equipment. I remember seeing a restaurant car parked at Piramide on occasion when I lived there. It takes passengers to several several restaurants along the route. 

Rome's transit agency, ATAC, has an extensive and useful site: https://atac.roma.it/. That will take you to a page in Italian, but an English version is also available. Here is the link to the tram route map: https://atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=390

Great info Jerry.  Thanks for contributing.

Line 3 had newer tram cars in 2015, didn't see any ancient models.  Milan had a number of older cars, however.

OpenRailwayMap shows the streetcar lines.  I see a gap on the west side.  300 degrees of the loop is available.  Missing link is from The Vatican gates to the circus/chariot racing area.  It's an easy distance to cover walking, if the weather is good.  

https://www.openrailwaymap.org/?style=standard&lat=41.90361855925283&lon=12.481327056884766&zoom=13

Ted in UT



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/21 10:05 by gobbl3gook.

gobbl3gook Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> OpenRailwayMap shows the streetcar lines.  I see
> a gap on the west side.  300 degrees of the loop
> is available.  Missing link is from The Vatican
> gates to the circus/chariot racing area.  It's an
> easy distance to cover walking, if the weather is
> good.  

I'm not sure that there ever was a complete tram loop.There were more lines in the past, of course, but I don't know if you could ever circumnavigate the city by streetcar. I do know that what exists now was what I encountered when I lived in Rome 20 years ago, with exception of the extension of line 8 to Venezia. There may have been other changes since then. 

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/30/21 13:15 by colehour.

This link http://tundria.com/trams/ITA/Rome-1951.php, suggests it was possible to circle round the centro strorico in Rome, but there was no tram line West of the Vatican City. For most American, many Australian and some European readers the maps on the site are watch and weep inducing.