The Vatican Railway () was opened in 1934 to serve

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

and its only station, Vatican City ( , or ). The main

rail tracks Railway track ( and UIC terminology) or railroad track (), also known as permanent way () or "P way" ( and Indian English), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers ( railroad ties in American ...

are

standard gauge A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), international gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge in Europe, and SGR in East Africa. It is the ...

and long, with two freight sidings, making it the shortest national railway system in the world.Korn, Frank J. 2000. ''A Catholic's Guide to Rome: Discovering the Soul of the Eternal City''. Paulist Press. . p. 49. Access to the Italian rail network is over a viaduct to Roma San Pietro railway station, and is guaranteed by the

Lateran Treaty The Lateran Treaty (; ) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between Italy under Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle the long-standing Roman question. The treaty and ass ...

dating from 1929. The tracks and station were constructed during the reign of

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State u ...

, shortly after the treaty. Beginning in 2015, one passenger service runs each Saturday morning with passengers for Castel Gandolfo. Most other rail traffic consists of inbound freight goods, although the railway has occasionally carried other passengers, usually for symbolic or ceremonial reasons.

History

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

(died 1846) prevented the construction of railways in the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

, and was reputed to have said "''chemin de fer, chemin d'enfer''" ("road of iron, road of hell"). Gregory XVI's successor,

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

, began the construction of a rail line from

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

but the territory was seized by the armies of the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia, also referred to as the Kingdom of Sardinia and Corsica among other names, was a State (polity), country in Southern Europe from the late 13th until the mid-19th century, and from 1297 to 1768 for the Corsican part of ...

in 1860 before it was completed. The utility of rail travel for the mass

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

s of the 19th century, beginning with those at Lourdes circa 1858, was one factor that softened opposition to such technology within the

Roman Curia The Roman Curia () comprises the administrative institutions of the Holy See and the central body through which the affairs of the Catholic Church are conducted. The Roman Curia is the institution of which the Roman Pontiff ordinarily makes use ...

. Pius IX's official train was hauled by steam locomotives, with the first such locomotive used to transport him being a Planet-type locomotive. The first journey of his train was on July 3, 1859, from Porta Maggiore station to Cecchina. This train was a significant part of Pius IX's promotion of a railway network in the Papal States. The train included three carriages: a "Balconata" for papal blessings, a Throne Room with a private apartment for the pope, and a Chapel Carriage. The Throne Room and Chapel Carriage were decorated with papal colors, gold, silver, and depictions of the pope blessing infrastructure, according to Turismo Roma. The construction of a railway station in Vatican City and its linkage to the Italian rail lines was guaranteed by the

of 11 February 1929. The Directorate of New Railway Construction of the Ministry of Public Works of the Kingdom of Italy implemented this provision with construction beginning on 3 April 1929, to establish earthworks 38 m above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

(the height of the Roma San Pietro railway station) between Piazza Santa Marta and the Governor's Palace, Vatican. The construction of the viaduct leading to Vatican City was paid for by the Italian government; the station within Vatican City was financed from the ₤750 million indemnity agreed to in the Lateran Treaty's financial section. The total cost of construction was reported to be ₤24 million. The station building ( see below) was constructed between 1929 and 1933. The first locomotive entered Vatican City in March 1932. The station was opened officially on 2 October 1934. A Railway Convention was ratified between Italy and Vatican City on 12 September 1934, on which date the property passed from Ferrovie dello Stato (Italian State Railways) to the Holy See. In October 1934 the Ministry of Public Works gave the completed rail lines to Vatican City and Ferrovie dello Stato, respectively.Legge sulle fonti del diritto (7 June 1929) made Italian railway legislation binding on Vatican-controlled railways.

1940s onwards

In late March 1944, during the allied bombing of Rome in World War II, Vatican City discovered a German munitions train parked on the line by the Vatican City railway station. The railway station was the only building in the Vatican to be hit during the Second World War.

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

, on 4 October 1962, became the first pope to use the Vatican railway during his pilgrimage to Loreto and

Assisi Assisi (, also ; ; from ; Central Italian: ''Ascesi'') is a town and comune of Italy in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Prope ...

one week before the beginning of

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

using the Italian presidential train; the trip was broadcast on the Eurovision Network. Prior to John's trip in 1962,

had been both the last pope to visit Loreto (as the head of the Papal States) and the last pope to travel by train.Prusak, Bernard P. 2004. ''The Church Unfinished: Ecclesiology Through the Centuries''. Paulist Press. . p. 271. John XXIII also arranged for the major relics of

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...

to be transferred to Venice using the Vatican railway.

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

used the railway a few times for symbolic purposes, as early as 8 November 1979, but did not use the railway to leave

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

until 24 January 2002.Holy See Press Office. 28 January 2001. Trans. Glyn Williams.
The Vatican City State Railway
"

2000s onwards

On 21 May 2011, a special train ran from Vatican City station to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Caritas.

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

used the railway for a pilgrimage to

on 27 October 2011. On 18 April 2013, the

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

Group of Train Friends () departed on a rail tour from Roma Ostiense railway station to arrive into Vatican City station using two ALn 776 rail cars belonging to Seatrain, which also performed a shunt into the tunnel, then departed with three goods wagons.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

's desire to open the Church's treasures to the public has resulted in a weekly special train from Vatican City Station that is open to the public and is provided by the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

and the Italian railway. In 2015, this train tour opened to tourists for the first time.

Railway station

The Vatican City railway station (in Italian, ''Stazione Città del Vaticano'' or ''Stazione Vaticana'') is the only

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

of the Vatican Railway. It was built approximately from the Entrance Gateway and designed by architect Giuseppe Momo. Construction began on 3 April 1929, and the station began operation in 1933. Its simple white, Italian

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

design was described by writer H. V. Morton as "more like a branch of the Barclay Bank in London." The station building is composed of white marble, and its dimensions are . The central body is tall and the lateral ones tall. Part of the station building continues in use as passenger station and goods (rail freight) office, whilst part now houses the Vatican numismatic and philatelic museum. The railway station also houses the small Vatican duty-free department store, a private facility open only to Vatican subjects and diplomats.Vatican Tax-Free Department Store Busy This Season
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Route

The Vatican City State Railway branches off from the Rome to Viterbo railway line at the Roma San Pietro railway station and crosses Gelsomino valley via a long masonry

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

of eight arches (bearing the fasces and the Savoy coat of arms), which crosses Viale Vaticano (which it interrupts) and Via Aurelia. The single-track section of the route up until the border was subsequently fitted with overhead electric line. The first 100 metres of overhead line is always supplied with 3000 V DC, with the remainder of the distance only energised as needed. Before passing through the Vatican City walls and terminating in the Vatican City railway station, the line passes under an arch decorated with the coat of arms of

with a two-piece 35.5-ton iron gate which slides into the recesses of the Vatican walls. The gate is closed when there is no traffic scheduled on the line. The railway has two tracks (partly located in Rome, outside the gateway), but only one is served by a station platform. Two dead-end loading tracks, for freight wagons, are situated on the northwest side of the building. They are connected to the main track that ends in a

headshunt A headshunt (or escape track in the United States) is a short length of Rail tracks, track provided to release locomotives at Terminal station, terminal platforms, or to allow Shunt (rail), shunting to take place clear of main lines. Terminal hea ...

in a straight tunnel under the hillside. The station is near the Vatican Gardens, behind St. Peter's Basilica. Other buildings near the station are the Governatorate Palace and the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The gateway separating the station from rail track in Italian territory is an opening in the Leonine Wall.

Uses

Freight

The Vatican railway has been used primarily for importing goods. Extensive freight operations were witnessed before road transport became more common and less expensive. Although the volume has decreased, there are still regular freight services into the Vatican.Information about the traffic on www.vatican.va
/ref>

Passengers

There have been intermittent periods of ordinary passenger train operation into the Vatican, but in contemporary use the Vatican City station has only had regularly scheduled passenger service trains since 2015. A weekly special passenger train operates, provided by the

and the Italian railway. A special train for invited guests and media reporters inaugurated the run on 11 September 2015. This inaugural train was hauled by FS Class 625 steam locomotive 625-017, built in 1915. The same engine was used by the Italian royal family, and also hauled the train which carried

to Loreto and Assisi in 1962. The regular service has operated every Saturday since 12 September 2015, with visitors to the Vatican Museums boarding a train to travel to the Pontifical Villas in Castel Gandolfo. Scheduled trains use contemporary suburban rolling stock to travel from Vatican City railway station to Albano Laziale, via Castel Gandolfo. At the station visitors can tour the newly created museum and pontifical gardens, and visit the town. The tour returns the same afternoon, terminating one stop to the south at .

Rolling stock

Pope Pius XI's planned papal train was never constructed, and the

Vatican City State Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

has never employed any railway workers or registered any

rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...

. All locomotives, carriages, and wagons (including those which currently convey goods into the Vatican) belong to the Italian Railways (FS). In 2007, Fiat donated a New Holland Agriculture tractor to the Pope. The tractor is normally parked at the end of the station platform, where it can be used for shunting duties instead of a locomotive. Pius IX's official train from the time of the

remains on display at the Museum of Rome, housed in the Palazzo Braschi.

Gallery

File:Città del Vaticano (train station).jpg, Vatican City railway station, looking westwards File:Eisenbahntor der Vatikanstadt.jpg, Gateway through Vatican City walls, looking south File:Einfahrt Zug Bahnhof des Vatikan.jpg, Train entering Vatican City station File:Vatikan Tunnel.jpg, The tunnel to

with parked tractor, looking north File:Bahnsteig Bahnhof Vatikan.jpg, Vatican City station platform File:Roma San Pietro-Vatican Railway junction Passeggiata del Gelsomino.jpg, Start of Vatican City Railway at Rome St Peters, with parallel footpath to Vatican City, looking north File:Ladungsverkehr Vatikan.jpg, An FS freight car in Vatican City station

References

External links

Vatican Railway information on www.vatican.va

Vatican Museums official website

Vatican Museums official on-line ticket office

Private Rail Cars of Pope Pius IX
{{good article Buildings and structures in Vatican City Railway lines in Lazio

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

Transport in Rome Railway bridges in Italy Cross-border railway lines in Italy