ATM has repainted the following 50 Ventotto cars into white & yellow (livrea biancogialla – or “canarine”). The cars are usually on line 1 but as you can see in the photos (all taken by Alessio Pedretti at the end of June 2008) they also stray onto the other Ventotto operated lines.

1504-1511-1521-1527-1530-1531-1533-1564-1580-1596
1600-1613-1623-1635-1636-1648-1662-1673
1703-1719-1725-1726-1730-1732-1747-1749-1757-1789-1794-1799
1803-1813-1822-1835-1858-1861-1862-1866-1872-1878-1895
1902-1921-1922-1926-1935-1936-1951-1993-2002

Of course there is also one more canary car – this is the historic 1503. And 1911 runs in San Francisco (renumbered 1811)!

1564 in via Cantu

1813 in piazza Cordusio

1872 in via Broletto

1803 in viale Tunisia

(updated FEB 2009)

ATM has fitted out the first 4900 series cars with air conditioning (and not just for the motorman!). The following cars have been rebuilt so far:
4951-4952-4956-4959-4960-4966-4970-4972-4977-4980-4981-4982-4985-4987-4992-4998. Note that only cars from the 4950-4999 batch are being dealt with.

Alessio Pedretti sent us these photos (all taken at the end of June 2008):

4985 in piazza Cordusio

4951 in piazza Cordusio

4966 in corso Vercelli

4985 in via Orefici

831 at piazza di porta Maggiore on its way to staz. Laziali

This is our first posting about a non-Milano subject. The 950mm interurban tram from Roma Laziali to Pantano was cut-back to the city limts late night on July 4th 2008. The last day of operation on the outer section was to have been on Sunday (July 6th) but as they had to rebuild the new terminus at Giardinetti no trains operated beyond Centocelle from Saturday morning. A new station replaces the interim platform here. From Terranova to Pantano the old interurban tramway had been rebuilt to metro standard over the last few years (the stations feature a high loading platform which has been roped off for passengers and a low loading platform area for the trams. No doubt with the recent closure these platforms will now all be rebuilt to high platform only configuration. The Pantano line beyond Giardinetti is now operated by bus replacement until the metro opens in a few years time. The frequency on the surving section has been much increased and trams now run every 4-7 minutes. Hopefully this portion will survive and there is even talk about re-gaugeing it to allow integration into the city tram network in the future. It certainly is very busy.

This is what wikipedia has to say about the history (text slightly modified):

• In March 1907 the Superior Council of Public Works gave favourable opinion (mandatory advice of Government Committee) to build the line designed by Antonio Clementi. Works were started in 1913 by the “Società per le Ferrovie Vicinali” (SFV). The first section of the railway was opened for service on June 12th 1916 from Roma to San Cesareo and Genazzano together with the branch line from San Cesareo to Frascati.

• In Roma the “SFV Station” was built on the Esquiline Hill side ofthe Roma Termini station. The service was first and third class, with four daily trains. On May 6th 1916 the branch line from Genazzano to Fiuggi was opened for service. From Roma to Fiuggi the trip-time was two hours and 45 minutes with a train departure every half hour. Other branch lines were opened for service on July 14th 1917: Fiuggi to Alatri-Frosinone and Fiuggi to Vico nel Lazio-Guarcino. In 1943/1944 the Roma-Fiuggi railway was partly destroyed by Allied bombing. In 1945 the line was opened again for service. In 1982 the branch line Genazzano-Fiuggi was closed, followed in 1983 by the line Pantano-Genazzano.

The line is now operated by Met.ro and they call it the Ferrovia Roma-Pantano. I wonder if they have to change the name. With the cut-back to the city limits the line now operates within Roma alone. The depot is located at Centocelle. New metro line C is being built right now and the eastern end of it will take over the outer end of the Pantano line. Despite the railway title the line is really an interurban tram – like the Desio and Limbiate lines in Milano it features little street running and the rolling stock is a mix of light railway and tramway stock.

The older rolling stock has been modernised heavily in the late 1950s to mid 1960s and as of 2006 consists of:

2 motor cars from the 1920s: 01 to 03
3 motor cars built by Ansaldo Breda in 1989: 820 – 822 – 823
5 motor cars from the 1920s: 103 – 104 – 105 – 106 – 110 plus trailers
6 motor cars built by Firema in 1999: 831 to 836
8 motor cars from the 1920s: 420 – 421 – 422 – 423 – 424 – 425 – 426 – 428 plus trailers

The 1920s cars usually run in pairs of 2 (01-03, 1xx) as motor + control trailer sets. The 4xx cars run in pairs of 3 cars with the motor car in the middle between two control trailers. The trailers have their own fleet numbers but a new feature seems to be the numbering of all sets in the 0x/1xx/4xx series (i.e. even the trailers carry the fleet number of the motor car). This is what we saw in July:

01 = 121+01+054
103 = 085+103+107
106 = 104+106+082
110 = 109+110 in old blue livery
420 = 064+420+062
421 = 063+421+056
423 = 060+423+061 in old blue livery
424 = 068+424+071
425 = 066+425+069
428 = 052+428+065

not seen (in depot)

02 = 123+02+58
03 = 122+03
105 = 101+105+084
422 = 057+422+051
426 = 059+426+067
429 = 050+429+055

A complete list of the current rolling stock can be found here:
http://www.ilmondodeitreni.it/mioforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2701&whichpage=6

Here are some photos of the last day of operation of the outer section (photos not easy to take as the security people did not like it – as on all metro system in Italy photography is not allowed without a permit and the outer section has metro statiions. No such problems on the tramway section…) and some pics of the service on the following two days.

Pics taken July 4th 2008 at Pantano:

control trailer 069 (with 425 and 066) about to reverse

unidentified 4xx set leaving the station for Roma Laziali

“set” 01 reversing at the end of the viaduct (control trailer 054 at the front)

“set” 01 with control trailer 121 at the back heading towards Roma

834 heading towards the reversing siding

822 heading towards the reversing siding

834 entering station from reversing siding

822 awaiting return trip to staz. Laziali

822 heading towards Roma passing the high platform loading area

825 leaving the reversing siding

Pics taken July 4th 2008 at Grotte Celoni:

“set” 423 with control trailer 061 at the back heading towards Pantano

833 entering the station from Pantano

833 heading towards Roma Laziali

Pics taken July 4th 2008 at Finocchio and S. Antonio

832 heading toward Roma. Finocchio is the only underground station on the already built metro section.

“set” 106 with control trailer (or is it a motor car as well?!) at the front heading towards Roma

“set” 424 with control trailer 071 at the front at S. Antonio heading towards Roma. This station (one east of Giardinetti) is the only stop on the abandonded stretch that will be replaced by a new underground station still to be built.

The rest of the pics were taken in July 5th and 6th on the surviving line

“set” 01 with control trailer 054 leading approaching Giardinetti from Pantano

motor car 421 at Centocelle

control trailer 082 (“set” 106) inside Deposito Centocello

“set” 423 with control trailer 060 leading at Ponte Casilino heading towards the temporary terminus at Centocelle

“set” 423 with control trailer 061 at the back at piazza di porta Maggiore heading towards Centocelle

“set” 425 at piazzale Labicano (Porta Maggiore)

motor car 110 (“set” 110) at Roma Laziali terminus

how much longer will Pantano be shown on the destination?

a surprise find at a camping site near Centocelle (one station west of it): Routemaster RM1176 from London

The new end of the line can be seen here:
http://www.ilmondodeitreni.it/mioforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2701&whichpage=37

More pics taken during the last days:

• http://www.ilmondodeitreni.it/mioforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2701&whichpage=30

http://www.ilmondodeitreni.it/mioforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2701&whichpage=29
http://www.ilmondodeitreni.it/mioforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2701&whichpage=28

stop press: Met.Ro has renamed the line to “ferrovia regionale Roma-Giardinetti”.