| Palermo metropolitan railway service | |
| Locale: | Palermo |
| Transit Type: | commuter rail |
| Lines: | 2 |
| Stations: | 16 |
| Began Operation: | 1990 |
| Operator: | Trenitalia |
| System Length: | 39.11NaN1 |
| Track Gauge: | standard gauge |
| El: | 3 kV DC, overhead line |
The Palermo metropolitan railway service is a commuter rail system operated by Trenitalia. It serves the city of Palermo in Sicily, Italy.
See also: List of Palermo metropolitan railway stations. There are two lines:
Both lines are served by a train every 30 minutes, although on the Palermo CentralePunta Raisi line some stops are served by half of the trains.[1]
The first section of the Palermo "metropolitana" was opened in 1990, a month before the beginning of Italia 90, the football World Cup. The line had only six stations: Palermo Centrale, Vespri, Palermo Notarbartolo, Federico, Fiera and Giachery. The line used the tracks of the old PalermoTrapani railway, running across the city until Notarbartolo station, and from there it followed the branch to the port, along which new stops were built.[2]
This line was also used to reach the Stadio Renzo Barbera (Stadio della Favorita) football stadium.
In November 1993 a new branch was opened, on the tracks of the railway to Trapani, running diesel railcars type ALn 668. The first two stops were San Lorenzo-Colli and Tommaso Natale.[3] In 1994 stops at Francia and Cardillo-Zen were opened.[4]
In 2001 a new tunnel station (Palazzo Reale-Orleans) was opened, serving the city centre.[5] The metropolitan service was extended to Punta Raisi railway station, serving the Falcone Borsellino Airport.[6]
Improvements on this line began 22 February 2008.
This route was repaired in 1993.