Line C of the Rome Metro (and its depot/warehouse) represents the largest
infrastructure project currently in progress in Italy, and one of the longest
construction sites in Europe; the client is Società Roma Metropolitane Srl, the
general contractor is the MetroC joint stock consortium, in which Ansaldo STS
has a 14% stake.
MetroC has commissioned AnsaldoBreda SpA to build the driverless trains for
Line C:they will be driven and controlled remotely by a fully automated system,
which will ensure all aspects of its safety.This system, known as Driverless,
is already in operation in Copenhagen, Singapore, Vancouver, Paris, Lille and
Turin, and will also be used in Brescia and Milan’s new Line 5.
Driverless is mainly based on an innovative system called ATC (Automatic Train
Control) – supplied by Ansaldo STS – and on the thorough integration of metro
line systems, which requires complex system engineering during all phases of
design and construction. MetroC has commissioned Ansaldo STS to carry out
this engineering activity.
Line C will be 25.5 km in length (17.6 km underground, 7.9 km above ground) and
will cross the city from the North-West to the South-East, passing under the
Tiber river, the historic centre and the Colosseum. It will
transport 24,000 passengers per hour in each direction, and will also be
integrated into the existing transport system through the interchange stations
with metro lines A and B, and with the FR 1 regional railway line.
The Line C fleet will consist of 30 new-generation trains, each with six fully
air-conditioned carriages. They will travel at a commercial speed of 35 km/h,
with a train every 180 seconds during peak hours and along the central
section.
The 30 stations, including 21 underground, will be built 800 metres apart,
according to design functionality and safety criteria.
The project will involve 1.3 million hours for the design, at least 22 million
hours for construction and around 250,000 hours to make the trains:following
the work of designers and planners that began in March 2006, an army of
workers, technicians, engineers and architects invisible to passers-by are set
to enter the city’s underground building site to create, one step at a time, a
real engineering jewel.
The first stretch of the line, from Pantano to San Giovanni, is expected to be
in operation for 2011.
