Short history of Genoa Underground

In 1980 the facts and decision process began that defined the projects and the beginning of the underground construction work. In that year the Council administration approved a fast tram line intended to link Rivarolo with Principe passing through the old Certosa tunnel. After the elimination of the trams the tunnel was used for bus routes with subsequent grave environmental problems due to scarce efficiency. The City Council therefore decided to restore the tram services, with new and updated vehicles

Due to reasons of re-using the existing infrastructure, therefore of cost and time, the service should have been developed, like the first time, on promiscuous sites, i.e., outside of the tunnel on ordinary roads. The "Concessionary" procedure was chosen and this was entrusted to Ansaldo Transport, to whom a first set of vehicles were also ordered: internal works of adapting the tunnel were also started.

Soon, however, to reply to the growing mobility demands, we were orientated towards the so-called " underground transport railway link", to be done with vehicles similar to trams, but that were to run in adequate and completely reserved sites. The railway link should have connected, in its terminal points, the railway stations of Rivarolo, Brignole and the railway station of Principe in the central section. Even in the choice of the route one of the characteristics of what was to become the underground system of Genoa started to take shape , and that is , to use the structures and infrastructures already in existence and which were under-utilised, with the necessary in-depth adaptation.

After different studies on transport, on mobility and variants of the Town-Planning Scheme, naturally based on very complex drawings, investigations and forecasts on urban asset and on its development tendencies, also through alternative exams, the definite layout of the underground system was outlined.

Establishing the layout, it was also easy to identify the stations, because other than obviously having to necessarily link the railway stations (Rivarolo, Principe and Brignole), it also needed to serve the traditional traffic and public transport knots (Dinegro, Caricamento, Corvetto), the city centre (Piazza de Ferrari), the port in its traditional functions and the containers of the big functions (The university centres of Balbi, expanding to Darsena and those of Sarzano with its new museum of Saint Agostino and the Architecture Faculty).