Roma Termini railway station

Roma Termini
View of the station building.
Location
Address Piazzale dei Cinquecento
00185 Roma RM
Comune Rome
Province Rome
Region Lazio
Country Italy
Line(s) Rome–Florence (high-speed)
Rome–Florence (traditional)
Rome–Naples (high-speed)
Rome–Formia–Naples
Rome–Cassino–Naples
Rome-Nettuno
Rome–Pisa
Rome–Pescara
Rome-Ancona
Rome–Viterbo
Rome–Velletri
Rome–Albano
Rome–Frascati
Rome–Fiumicino
Other information
Opened 1862 (1862)
Platforms 29
Manager Rete Ferroviaria Italiana
Grandi Stazioni
Line operator(s) Trenitalia
Classification Platinum
Services
Connections
Metropolitana di Roma
Rome Tram
Trolleybuses
Location map
Roma Termini railway station
Roma Termini railway station (Italy)

Roma Termini (in Italian, Stazione Termini or Stazione di Roma Termini) is the main train station of Rome. It is named after the district of the same name, which in turn took its name from ancient Baths of Diocletian (in Latin, thermae), which lie across the street from the main entrance.[1]

Contents

Overview

The station has regular train services to all major Italian cities as well as daily international services to Paris, Munich, Geneva, Basel, and Vienna. With its 29 platforms and over 150 million passengers each year,[2] Roma Termini is one of the largest train stations in Europe.

Termini is also the main hub for public transport inside Rome. Both current Rome Metro lines (A and B) intersect at Termini metro station, and a major bus station is located at Piazza dei Cinquecento, the square in front of the station. However, the main tram lines of the city cross at Porta Maggiore, some 1,500 metres east of the station.

On 23 December 2006, the station was dedicated to Pope John Paul II.[3]

History

On 25 February 1863, Pope Pius IX opened the first, temporary Termini Station as the terminus of the Rome–Frascati, Rome–Civitavecchia and Rome-Ceprano lines .

The first two lines previously had separate stations elsewhere in the city, and, as the third line was under development, the city chose to build one central station, as opposed to the Paris model of having separate terminus stations for each line or each direction. The dilapidated Villa Montalto-Peretti, erected in the 16th Century by Pope Sixtus V, was chosen as the site for this new station, which was to be called the "Stazione Centrale delle Ferrovie Romane" (Central Station of Roman Railways).

Construction of the permanent station began in 1868, in the last years of the Papal Temporal Power over the city of Rome, and was completed in 1874 after the Capture of Rome and installing of government of United Italy. It was laid out according to a plan by the architect Salvatore Bianchi. The front of this station reached Via Cavour, which means it stuck some 200 metres deeper into the city than the current station.

In 1937, it was decided to replace the old station, as part of the planning for the 1942 World's Fair, which was never held because of the outbreak of World War II. The old station was demolished, and part of the new station was constructed, but works were halted in 1943 as the Italian fascist government collapsed. The 2-kilometre-long side structures of the design by Angiolo Mazzoni del Grande are still part of the current-day station.

Current building

The current building was designed by the two teams that won a competition in 1947: Leo Calini and Eugenio Montuori; Massimo Castellazzi, Vasco Fadigati, Achille Pintonello and Annibale Vitellozzi. It was inaugurated in 1950. The building is characterized by the extremely long, modernist façade in travertine and by the gravity-defying double curve of the cantilever roof in reinforced concrete. Because of these, it carries the nickname the Dinosaur. The famous anodized aluminium friezes are work of artist Amerigo Tot: the composition is about capturing the dynamics in sound and speed of a train.

In the movies

See also

Trains portal
Architecture portal
Rome portal

References

  1. ^ Guida d'Italia. Roma. Milan: Touring Club Italiano. 1999. pp. 162. : "il toponimo deriva dalle terme di Diocleziano" ("the toponym derives from the Baths of Diocletian").
  2. ^ Grandi Stazioni
  3. ^ News on italian railways official website

External links

Media related to Roma Termini railway stations at Wikimedia Commons