The Naples tramway network is located within the city and comune of Naples, in the region of Campania, southern Italy. In operation since 1875, the network has waxed and waned in size and vitality over the years, and is now growing once again. It is now long, and comprises three routes, known as lines 1, 2 and 4.
History
The first tramways in Naples were horsecar lines, opened in 1875. In 1929, the city of Naples rescued various lines, rolling stock and infrastructure from several concessionaires, before merging them all into the Azienda Tranviaria Comunale Napoli , which had been established in 1918. In December 1930, the management of the network was entrusted to the Ente Autonomo Volturno, a local public sector producer of electricity. In 1937, the EAV became the concessionaire of the service, but due to various difficulties the city council resumed direct management from 1 January 1941, at the request of the concessionaire. In 1947, the Azienda Tranvie Autofilovie Napoli was established to take over the management of tram services. As in other Italian cities, the tramway network underwent a drastic reduction between 1952 and 1954 in favour of trolleybus lines, and motor vehicles. Attempts in the late twentieth century to revive what was left of the network, such as the Linea Tranviaria Rapida designed for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, did not lead to any results. Instead, the network suffered further cuts. A rebuilding program has been launched. The program includes the reconstruction of some infrastructure, and renewal of the tram fleet.
Services
The Naples tramway network is long, and comprises the following routes:
Due to further work on the construction of Municipio metro station, the movement of trams into Piazza Vittoria is temporarily suspended. To work around this problem, the city considered building a temporary terminus, which would have been located in Via Cristoforo Colombo. If that terminus had been built, it would have given access to some abandoned tram lines.
Projects
A new extension is under construction along Via Stadera. The extension work was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009 or early 2010, but has been delayed. The General Plan of Urban Traffic proposes the construction of new tram lines to the district of Ponticelli, and along Via S.Alfonso Maria dei Liguori as far as Piazza Carlo III, the restoration of the connection to Mergellina, and a new line, built to light rail specifications, from Piscinola to Villaricca, on the trail of the former Ferrovia Alifana. If work on all of these projects were completed, the network would be formed by the following lines:
1 Emiciclo di Poggioreale–Piazza Sannazaro
2 Via Stadera–San Giovanni a Teduccio
2/ Emiciclo di Poggioreale–San Giovanni a Teduccio
4 San Giovanni a Teduccio –Piazza Vittoria
Branch to Piazza Carlo III
Line to Ponticelli
Piscinola–Villaricca line
Rolling stock
By the late 1970s, the only trams remaining in service were from the series 951–1054, which were Peter Witt-type trams built by Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali in the 1930s, originally as 901–906 and 951-1050. These had been rebuilt in the 1950s and early 1960s, with modernised front and rear ends, among other changes. Between 1976 and 1980, a total of 72 of these were fully rebodied, keeping their fleet numbers, and the last unrebodied cars were withdrawn from service between 1981 and 1984. The only car that remained in use with its older body was No. 1029, which after 1980 was relegated to work duties, not passenger service, and was withdrawn entirely in December 1992.
18 CT139K Peter Witt streetcars, most built in 1933–1935 by OFM, rebodied in 1976–1980
Depots
Of the five depots used by the full network, only one remains active, namely the San Giovanni depot, in the eastern Naples suburb of San Giovanni a Teduccio.
