THE NEW FLORENCE TRAMWAY SYSTEM

The Florence metropolitan area is going through radical transformations in the field of mobility and among these the new tramway system holds a great importance that inevitably will have to be integrated with other projects (third lane of highway, high speed tunnel and a respective new railway station with new metropolitan railway system). The new tramway system will interest not only the municipal councils of Florence but also the municipal councils of Scandicci, Bagno a Ripoli and Sesto Fiorentino, altogether stretching to approximately 46 kilometers in length.

Work progress

(June 2004) Up to today work has been carried out and completed on the first stage of the civil works for the first tramway line which involved the construction of a vehicle subway in Piazza Vittorio Veneto, the widening of the bridge over River Greve and the preparation of the area where there will be the tram depot.  Within July they will commence the work on the new bridge over the Arno and the depot in Scandicci and in the same month an executive project of the entire tram line will be presented to the municipal council of Florence, Scandicci and upon approval they could start on other projects which finish in 2007.

With regards to the other two lines they will be constructed and put into operation (even the first) by the public transport company of the Paris area  RATP which is the only company presenting itself for the project financing tendering. At the moment negotiations are taking place for the signing of the contract and the assignment of works.  The works should start at the beginning of 2005 and finish in 2009.

(December 2004) On the 1^st December work officially commenced on the second stage of first tram-line. The first thing to do in the program was the construction of the bridge over the Arno River and in 2005 the works will begin on the road network of Florence and Scandicci.  Also, the final project of the first line with all its alterations and the working drawings of the bridge over the Arno River has been approved, the working drawings of the remaining part of the project will be completed in the next few months. The commencement of works has been postponed for a few years due to the legalities between the companies that had tendered for the project and at the end of 2007 the first tram-line will be able to be travelled over by the trams.  After a year the other two lines will come into operation, for which the contract of works to be carried out has been assigned officially to the company RATP which manages the entire public transport (buses, trams, subways, cityrail and regional railroads) of Paris, with exception of the second lot of completion of the third line (Piazza della Libertà – Rovezzano and Piazza della Libertà – Viale Europa) on which there are no definite information as the Ministry has not yet activated the finance.

A) First tram-line Florence S.M.N. – Scandicci

Km 7,5 – tram-stop 15

B) Second tram-line: Peretola – Piazza della Libertà

Km 9 – tram-stops 19

 

The second tram-line has its terminal in proximity to Peretola airport and in proximity to the exit of Freeway A11 (Florence-Sea).  It crosses all the Novoli quarter,  first going through Viale Guidoni and then Via di Novoli, serving the offices of  Tuscany Region and the university installation in the ex-Fiat area.   At the end of Via di Novoli it goes into Via Gordigiani using the Belfiore railway area (where a new high speed railway station will be constructed) and reaching S.Maria Novella Station (interconnecting with the first tram-line).  The line to the historical centre starts like this: after the Via Cerretani and Via Panzani it reaches the Duomo,  then proceeds in Via Martelli and Via Cavour finishing in Piazza della Libertà (interconnecting itself with the third tram-line) through San Marco Square, using two lines on a single platform (via la Pira and Cavour).

Go to the page with images and the relative details of second tram-line (in Italian)!

C) Third tram-line: Vehicles –  Viale Stozzi  (First lot)

km 4,5 – tram-stops 9

 

The first building lot of the third line has its own north terminal inserted in the new slab (south) in the hospital pole of Careggi, the largest in Tuscany. It continues into Viale Morgagni, in Piazza Dalmazia ,  where it is interconnects to Rifredi railway station; then across two single lines on a single platform (via Corridoni-Pisacane and Vittorio Emanuele), reaching the directrix in Via dello Statuto, where it is connected with the Statuto railway station in the area of Fortezza.

Main works

terminal of Careggi ospital vehicle subway Milton - Strozzi vehicle subway Fortezza

Go to the page with images and the relative details of third tram-line - first lot (in Italian)!

D) Building completion lot of the third tram-line

The completion lot of the third line,  which is subject to the financial support of the public, provides the following development, with about 15 stops.

 

In Viale Lavagnini, this path of the tramway merges with the path coming from Viale Rosselli-Strozzi. In Piazza della Libertà, where it interconnects with the terminal of the second tramway line, the tram-line runs on the south side of the circle leading to Viale Matteotti, where keeping to the middle lane and leaving two lanes on either side for private traffic, continuing on to Piazzale Donatello and, at the intersection with Viale Segni, it spreads in two directions.  One directrix runs from Viale Gramsci and exits into Piazza Beccaria, then joining up, across Viale Amendola,  Arno embankments,  always in the middle lane,  with the current row of trees in the centre. This is how one reaches the Ponte da Verrazzano,  through which the tramline takes you from the other side of Arno, down Viale Giannotti and Viale Europa, always keeping to the middle of the wide roadways. Reaching Viale Europa, the tramway arrests itself in correspondence with the viaduct of Via Marco Polo, where there is the directrix going straight to Casello di Firenze Sud- A1.

 

The other directrix emerges in Viale Segni towards the north, to then insert itself into Viale Mazzini. Reaching Viale Mazzini, goes under the railway at Campo Marte, including the Alta Velocità railway link.  The tramline proceeds to Viale Fanti, keeping to the middle lane of the road.  After serving the area of the Stadio Comunale, it goes into Viale Mamiani and Viale Verga, touching the technical centre installation plant of Coverciano.  Finally reaching Rovezzano railway station through Viale Verga, intersecting Via Spadaro with the construction of a new road network which is at the tender stage.

Proposed new developments

Connecting the first line with the hospital of Torregalli Connecting the first line with the parking exchanged with Lot “O” through the dwelling of San Bartolo at Cintoia Connecting second line with the new building Palazzo di Giustizia and the area of Firenze Nova Connecting the second line with the new area of Castello and extension towards the Polo Scientifico e Technologico of Sesto Fiorentino (university) and to the Sesto Fiorentino Railway Station Extending the third line towards Bagno at Ripoli

Go to the page with images and the relative details of third tram-line - second lot (in Italian)!