Host railroads RFI Locale Naples Number of stations 12 Began operation 1925 | Number of vehicles ALe 724
ALe 582
TAF Number of lines 1 Transit type Commuter rail Operator Trenitalia | |
Track gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in)
standard gauge | ||
Line 2 (Italian: Linea 2) is a commuter rail service operated by Trenitalia in the city of Naples, Italy. It connects 12 stations.
Contents
Line 2 operates on the Villa Literno–Napoli San Giovanni-Barra railway, which crosses the city of Naples from west to east.
Line 2 also has some regional extensions. These are the Formia-Castellamare, Naples-Capua and Naples-Salerno (all these services use the Passante railway, of which the latter two start from Campi Flegrei station). Line 2 is the only Trenitalia service forming part of the Naples metropolitan railway service.
History
The construction of the line, part of the ″direttissima″ Rome–Naples, was begun in 1911 and after a suspension during World War I, it was completed in 1925 between Pozzuoli and Piazza Garibaldi, electrified with third rail. Two years later the ″direttissima″ was completed, and the electrical rail service was extended towards Villa Literno and San Giovanni-Barra.
In November 1935 the line was also electrified with overhead line; the third rail was discontinued in 1938.
In 1997, the line was numbered as Line 2, while the proper Naples Metro line became Line 1. The two lines were connected with a pedestrian tunnel between Museo and Cavour in 2002.
In 2001, operation of the line was taken over by Metronapoli SpA, a newly established joint stock company in which Trenitalia held a 38% stake. However, in November 2005, operation of line 2 was transferred back to Trenitalia, and that company sold its Metronapoli shares to the municipal government.
Nowadays the line is crossed by urban trains, and also by regional trains that reach Formia (westbound) and Capua, Castellammare and Salerno (eastbound).
Rolling stock
The metropolitan service started in 1925 with third rail cars of type E.20 transferred from the Ferrovie Varesine.
In 1938 the third rail system was discontinued, and the E.20 substituted by the newer E.624 equipped with overhead line.
From 1962–63 the E.624 were moved and substituted by the new EMUs of type ALe 803, and from 1983 the ALe 724.
Line 2 also uses ALe 582 and the newest double-decker Treno ad alta frequentazione.