The World Edition - Transporation - Naples Goes Underground

Naples Goes Underground

By Alexander H. Johnstone
OCTOBER 5, 2007

Many cities that were built hundreds and even thousands of years ago do not have the proper infrastructure to support our twenty-first century lifestyles. This can lead to one problem after the next and soon the only thing remaining is hope for a light at the end of the tunnel.

Cities around the globe are switching from a life centered around the automobile to one with more concentration on mass transit and the power of one's own two feet. Between increasing congestion and the depletion of our natural environment, transport by car just no longer seems to make sense.

From one of the world's historically rich civilizations, the city of Naples, Italy has emerged as a role model for intelligent change. The city is not blessed with a simple topography considering it is built on steep hills and has a volcano. The city center may be described in a variety of ways, but from a planner's perspective, it is rather disorganized. When the urban structure of Naples is combined with the local infatuation with the automobile, the result is not a pleasant one.

Development of an underground mass transit system has begun in Naples, but it has not been easy. With weak soil, this old city is actually one of the most difficult places in the world to provide such a system.

The public rail transit system that runs beneath the city is known as Naples Underground. The city already had rail lines existing under the center city. By 2011, the Naples Metro will have 100 stations on 90km of track - all for a city of well under two million people. The wider regional system covers 1,200km with 340 stations; when completed in 2010, it will have 1,400km of track, 423 stations, 28 parking areas and 21 train-bus transfer points. This puts London's plans for integrated transport in the shade. But will it get Neapolitans out of their cars? At present the Metro carries 480,000 passengers a day; by 2011 they will number 720,000.

Planners hope to create a pedestrian friendly atmosphere and increase public transit use from 34 to 40 per cent of all journeys. Automobile accidents and resulting deaths will decrease as well. In many places, graffiti and crime has already decreased because people want to take care of the beautiful atmosphere and surroundings.

Artistic treasures will be on display in every station. The Metropolitana di Napoli will not only be a route to modernity, but a showcase of the city’s classical past. The stations designs are bright, air-conditioned and high-tech: over every entrance to the platform a perforated tube will rain down a curtain of water to protect the escape routes from smoke and heat should fire break out. The yellow trains themselves are sleek, shiny and wide. This project has a cost of 3.88 billion euro.