Catania Metro

Rapid transit system serving Catania, Sicily, Italy

The Catania Metro is a rapid transit system serving the coastal city of Catania, Sicily, in Southern Italy. One of Italy’s seven metro systems, it is the only one in Sicily and Europe’s southernmost system. It was also the first metro on an island in the Mediterranean Sea, and is now one of two, with the Palma Metro becoming the second in 2007, although it was only the sixth in a city on the Mediterranean, after Athens (1904), Barcelona (1924), Marseille (1977), Valencia (1988) and Naples (1993). The Catania Metro has been in operation since 27 June 1999.

The section of the line between the stations of Borgo and Porto originally belonged to the Ferrovia Circumetnea narrow gauge regional railway which opened to traffic in 1895. For the operation of the metro, this portion of the rail line was converted to standard gauge and mostly moved underground into a double track cut and cover tunnel, except for the part of the route adjacent to the coast which runs on the surface for and which is single tracked. The metro usually operates every day. Trains run every 10 minutes until 3:00 p. m. and then every 15 minutes until the end of the service, at 10 p. m.

An extension to the system was approved on 30 March 2006. It involves a branch from the existing line at Galatea westward through the city centre, which is planned eventually to reach Catania's Fontanarossa airport to the south. This solution was favored over proposals for an airport link by means of a new station on the Catania Siracusa line, which runs past the airport and is part of the national rail network. Recent underground stations at Piazza Papa Giovanni XXIII and Corso Sicilia, near Piazza Stesicoro among others, have served the city center since 20 December 2016, while the new track Borgo Nesima (four new stations) opened in March 2017. Another extension, westward from the current terminal at Nesima, is also under construction as far as Misterbianco, toward the north western border of the city. It is planned to open in 2020.

Like mainline trains in Italy but unusual for a metro, trains use 3000 V DC overhead wires for power, the exact reason for doing so being unknown. It is the only metro outside Brazil to use 3000 V DC overhead power, and only of only two metros worldwide to use 3000 V DC power on standard gauge tracks, the other being the Salvador Metro in Brazil. Belo Horizonte and Porto Alegre use the same voltage too, but on irish tracks. E100 Series (E101 E103, 3 units) Stanga TIBB electric single units railcars bought second hand from the Ferrovia Centrale Umbra. Used as temporary rolling stock between 1999 and 2001. M.88 Series (M.88 01 to M.88 08, 8 two car sets) Two car electric multiple units built by Firema between 2001 and 2011. Mainstay of the line since 2001. Originally, each of them had a name. CT1 Series (2 two car sets in service, 25 others on order) Two car electric multiple units built by Titagarh Firema. A total of 27 two car units have been ordered in 2018. First train in service since 1 April 2022.