Florence Will Be the Hub of Italy's Rail Network for Four Days
From July 26 to 30, some services will be canceled, and long-distance trains will be rerouted along the Tyrrhenian coast—right in the middle of the travel season
Florence – Anyone traveling by train between northern Italy and Rome in the coming days should allow extra time. From 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 26, through 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 30, service at the Florence rail hub will be largely suspended. The sections affected are those between Firenze Campo di Marte and Firenze Rifredi, as well as between Campo di Marte and Santa Maria Novella. As a result, the most significant bottleneck on Italy’s north-south rail corridor will effectively be split in two for four days.
The closure is due to construction work on the Ponte al Pino railway overpass. The new steel superstructure is 32 meters long, 16 meters wide, and weighs 550 metric tons; a crane with a lifting capacity of 2,000 metric tons will hoist it into place. This is the second phase of construction following an initial closure in early July. Around the construction site, Via degli Artisti and Via Luca Giordano will remain closed to traffic from July 28 through August 14.
For travelers, this means that trains from the south will terminate at Campo di Marte, and trains from the north at Santa Maria Novella. Service at the hub will be roughly halved. Long-distance connections between Rome and Milan or Turin will be rerouted via the Tyrrhenian coast, which may add up to 180 minutes to the travel time. From Santa Maria Novella, about four trains per hour run toward Milan, Bolzano, and Venice; from Campo di Marte, about three trains per hour run toward Rome, Naples, and Bari.
The railway company is setting up a bus service between the two stations that runs on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; on Mondays, service begins as early as 6 a.m., and on Thursdays, it ends at 10 a.m. Passengers who need to transfer should allow about 90 additional minutes. The city of Florence is also providing a free shuttle service between the two stations, which runs from 6 a.m. to midnight. Passengers with a valid train ticket may also use tram lines T1 and T2 for free. In regional rail service, 17 routes are affected by cancellations and restrictions, including the lines to Pisa, Livorno, and Grosseto, as well as the connection to Rome via Arezzo.
The closure comes during an already tense week. 36.2 million Italians are traveling this summer, and highway operators expect more than 27 million vehicle trips this weekend, with traffic at the highest alert level. Anyone considering taking a detour via the highway should keep an eye on the truck driving bans: They are in effect on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
