Cotral SpA (In

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

: ''Compagnia Trasporti Lazio'' or Lazio Transport Company) is a

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

which runs suburban and inter-urban public transport services in the

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

region of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Cotral connects all the municipalities of Lazio - excluding the island municipalities of

Ponza Ponza (Italian: ''isola di Ponza'' ) is the largest island of the Italy, Italian Pontine Islands archipelago, located south of Cape Circeo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is also the name of the commune of the island, a part of the province of Latina ...

and

Ventotene Ventotene (; locally ; or ; , or ) is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Gaeta right at the border between Lazio and Campania, Italy. The municipality of Ventotene, of the province of Latina (Lazio) had 708 perman ...

- and with a total of over 8,000 daily trips. Together with

ATAC Atac (styled ''ATAC'') is a brand of predominantly food stores operating supermarkets, created by the Docks de France in 1982, and a subsidiary of the Auchan Group since 1998. The idea of the Atac concept was a supermarket which was near bare ...

and

Trenitalia Trenitalia Società per azioni, SpA is the primary train operator of Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government. It was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulati ...

, it participates in the

Metrebus The Metrebus Card is a contactless smart card, contactless smartcard ticketing system for Rome. It has stored value on a paper ticket for either 1, 3 or 7 days. All three versions of the tickets look the same on the front, but on the back of the t ...

integrated fare system.

History

Founded in 1976 through the merger of regional public transport operators in Lazio, Cotral inherited from one of these, STEFER, the management of the Rome metro, the concession railways Rome-Lido, Rome-Civita Castellana-Viterbo, and Rome-Fiuggi-Frosinone, as well as the tramways of the

Castelli Romani The Roman Castles (Italian: ''Castelli Romani'') are a group of ''comuni'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome. They are located a short distance south-east of the city of Rome, at the feet of the Alban Hills, in the territory corresponding to the ...

. In 2000, the management of the metro-rail system was separated from the original company with the creation of Met.Ro. (later merged into

), leaving Cotral with the sole management of the interurban and suburban bus network in Lazio. In the period 2018-2022, the Municipality of Rome initiated and completed the transfer of the Rome-Viterbo and Rome-Lido lines (now renamed "Metromare") to the Lazio Region, which entrusted Cotral with passenger services and Astral with infrastructure management.

Operations

Cotral manages most of the extra-urban bus connections between the various municipalities of Lazio, with the exception of the island municipalities of Ponza and Ventotene. The Cotral fleet consists, as of 2023, of 1,655 interurban buses with an average age of approximately 6.5 years. It serves 376 municipalities in Lazio, transporting 97.4 million passengers annually. Since 2024, it has also been managing 7 interregional lines, serving the regions of

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

and

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

. Aimed at consolidating the company's presence outside the Lazio region. The Metromare serves the Ostia district, the seaside resort of Rome, in a 28km stretch from the

Ostiense Ostiense is the 10th of Rome, identified by the initials Q. X. The toponym comes from the original name of the Porta San Paolo, a gate in the city walls of Rome, was , because it was located at the beginning of Via Ostiensis, Via Ostiense. It ...

-Porta San Paolo district to the terminus of

Via Cristoforo Colombo Via Cristoforo Colombo (or just ''la Colombo'', as it is often called by the Romans; ) is a street in Rome (Italy) that links the historic centre to Ostia. Along most of its route, the street has three lanes for each direction of movement. With ...

. The line transports approximately 19 million users annually. The Rome-Viterbo railway connects a large part of the

province of Viterbo The province of Viterbo () is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Lazio region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Viterbo. Geography Viterbo is the most northerly of the provinces of Lazio. It is bordered to the south by the Metropolitan Cit ...

and the northern outskirts of Rome with the center of Rome (

Piazzale Flaminio Piazzale Flaminio is a square in Rome (Italy) and the starting point of the Via Flaminia. It divides the Flaminio (Rome), Flaminio and the Pinciano quarters. Description The square extends just outside the Aurelian Walls. Porta del Popolo, on i ...

). This line has 2 types of service: Urban (limited to connecting the urban area within Rome) and Extraurban (the remaining part of the railway that reaches the terminus in

Viterbo Viterbo (; Central Italian, Viterbese: ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Lazio region of Italy, the Capital city, capital of the province of Viterbo. It conquered and absorbed the neighboring town of Ferento (see Ferentium) in ...

). The line transports approximately 12 million passengers annually.

References

External links

* – Official website {{Authority control Transport companies of Italy Government-owned transport companies Transport in Lazio Region-owned companies of Italy

History

Operations

See also

References

External links