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Metropolitana di Torino

Turin's automated metro network: Line 1 (Fermi-Bengasi, VAL) has been in service since 2006, while the tender for the north-south Line 2 is under way.

The Turin metro is the underground rail system of the city and its inner suburbs. Today it consists of a single line, Line 1, which links Fermi, in Collegno, with piazza Bengasi, running beneath corso Francia, corso Vittorio Emanuele II and via Nizza. Opened on 4 February 2006, on the eve of the Winter Olympics, it was the first fully automated metro line in Italy: the VAL (Véhicule automatique léger) trains run without a driver[1][2]. In twenty years it has carried over 635 million passengers, with a peak of 42 million in 2019[2]. Line 2, which will cross Turin from north to south, is now out to tender.

Before the metro

For much of the twentieth century, public transport in Turin relied on the tram. In the 1980s the city planned a "light metro" tram network: the Gerbido depot was designed to house its railcars, and tram line 3 was given that name, but the depot was never connected to the tracks and only ever housed buses[3]. The decision to build a true underground metro came at the end of the century: work on Line 1 began in 2000[1], and the new route under corso Francia took the place of tram line 1[3].

Line 1, section by section

The first stretch, 7.5 kilometres long, entered service on 4 February 2006 between Fermi and XVIII Dicembre, the stop near Porta Susa station[4][2]. On 5 October 2007 the line reached Porta Nuova station with three new stops[3][4]; the Porta Susa stop was not activated until September 2011[4]. On 6 March 2011 the 3.8-kilometre stretch under via Nizza as far as Lingotto was opened[4][1].

The last southward extension, 1.7 kilometres to piazza Bengasi, was delayed by a month because of the Covid-19 emergency: in June 2020 Infra.To presented a timetable to the city council committee setting the first ride on the trains for the following April[5]. The stretch, with the Italia 61-Regione Piemonte stop at the foot of the Piedmont Region skyscraper, was inaugurated on 23 April 2021[4][5]. Since then the line has had 23 stations[4].

How it works

The VAL 208 trains, built by Siemens, have four cars 2.08 metres wide, for an overall length of 52 metres. Standard stations measure 19 by 60 metres and lie on average 16 metres underground; the tunnel is 7.8 metres in diameter[4]. The depot and workshop are in Collegno, where in June 2025 the first of the new four-car articulated Alstom "Boa" trains of the Metropolis series arrived: the 156-million-euro contract also covers the new CBTC signalling and an upgrade of the automated systems[6]. The line is operated by Gruppo Torinese Trasporti.

The stations host the "Museo nel Metrò" project curated by the artist Ugo Nespolo, with panels devoted to the history and identity of the city[2].

Effects on the city

The assessment published by the City for the line's twentieth anniversary credits it with a 13% drop in vehicle traffic between 2011 and 2022, rising to 42% on corso Francia, the thoroughfare under which the western stretch runs[2]. MuseoTorino estimates about 90,000 passengers a day on a journey that takes a little over twenty minutes[1]. The line has linked the centre to the western and southern inner suburbs and has gone hand in hand with the conversion of former industrial areas into residential and university districts[2].

Towards Cascine Vica and Rivoli

The western extension, approved in 2015, takes the line 3.4 kilometres beyond Fermi, with the stations Certosa, Collegno Centro, Leumann and the terminus at Cascine Vica, on corso Francia at the ring road, already within the municipality of Rivoli[4][7]. The tunnel was dug by traditional methods, without a boring machine, between March 2021 and 2 August 2023; the total cost given by the City at the time was 328 million euros, trains included[7]. On that day mayor Stefano Lo Russo remarked: "These are the works that change the face of cities and communities"[7].

The building site then ran into trouble. On 16 June 2026 the Court of Rome declared inadmissible the composition-with-creditors application filed by Italiana Costruzioni Infrastrutture, the firm responsible for the civil works; on 9 July the mayors of Turin, Collegno, Grugliasco and Rivoli wrote to the Government asking for an urgent meeting, estimating at around 70 million euros the amount needed to complete the work[8]. The letter reads:

"[…] the areas affected are living alongside a building site of extraordinary complexity that has deeply affected traffic, mobility and economic activity in the area."

Letter from the mayors of Turin, Collegno, Grugliasco and Rivoli to the Government, 2026

Line 2

The second line crosses the city from north-east to south-west. In November 2018 the administration of Chiara Appendino presented a route from Anselmetti to Rebaudengo, with an estimated 300,000 trips a day by 2030 and a cost of around 3 billion euros[9]. In October 2019 the budget law then being drafted allocated the line more than 800 million euros, spread from 2020 to 2032[10]. The feasibility design approved in February 2020 and signed by the French firm Systra envisaged around 28 kilometres and 32 stations, from Orbassano, beyond the Mirafiori district, to San Mauro, crossing Line 1 at Porta Nuova and with stops at the Politecnico and at the San Giovanni Bosco hospital[11][12].

In 2023, law 41 placed the project under a special commissioner, later identified as Bernardino Chiaia, president of Infra.To[13][6][14]. "For Turin this means saving at least 24 months on the start of the works," commented Lo Russo[13]. In February 2026 the Dutch firm UNStudio, led by Ben van Berkel, won the international competition for the architecture of the stations, ahead of Zaha Hadid Architects and Kengo Kuma; the design reinterprets Turin's arcades and uses, among other things, Luserna stone and porphyry[15].

On 6 May 2026 the tender was issued for the civil works of the first stretch, from Rebaudengo to Porta Nuova, worth around one billion euros in two lots: the first above ground along the old railway "trincerone" as far as piazzale Croce Rossa, the second bored at a depth of 25-30 metres, with the stations Bologna, Novara, Verona, Mole/Giardini Reali, Carlo Alberto and Porta Nuova[14]. The City's timeline points to the main works starting in 2027 and ending in 2032[14]. "We chose to start from the northern area, to provide a transport infrastructure that will best reconnect it with the centre," the mayor explained, speaking of an "extraordinary opportunity to stitch the city back together"[14]. On 11 September 2026 the bids of nine companies were opened; as an option, the tender also includes the Porta Nuova-Politecnico stretch, worth around 450 million euros[16], for which the mayor had hoped the Government would find the funds[14].

Pages linking here

Related articles: Collegno, Grugliasco, Gruppo Torinese Trasporti, Lingotto, Olimpiadi invernali di Torino 2006, Stazione di Porta Nuova

Timeline

  • — The mayors of Collegno, Grugliasco and Rivoli, together with trade unions and trade associations, announce at a press conference a demonstration on 10 October in support of completing metro Line 1, whose building site has been stalled for months after the bankruptcy of the firm in charge of the works. → ANSA Piemonte Il Torinese

Sources

  1. MuseoTorino
  2. Torinoclick – Città di Torino — 3 February 2026
  3. Tram di Torino
  4. UrbanRail.net
  5. ANSA — 17 June 2020
  6. Torinoclick – Città di Torino — 6 June 2025
  7. Torinoclick – Città di Torino — 2 August 2023
  8. Torinoclick – Città di Torino — 9 July 2026
  9. Torino Oggi — 20 November 2018
  10. Torino Oggi — 30 October 2019
  11. Torino Oggi — 4 February 2020
  12. Mole24 — 15 July 2020
  13. ANSA — 23 April 2023
  14. Torinoclick – Città di Torino — 6 May 2026
  15. Torinoclick – Città di Torino — 6 February 2026
  16. Torinoclick – Città di Torino — 11 September 2026

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