The Florence tramway network () is an important part of the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) are forms of transport available to the general public. It typically uses a fixed schedule, route and charges a fixed fare. There is no rigid definition of whic ...

network of

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

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 ...

. It consists of two operational

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

lines. Florence, like many other Italian cities, closed down its old tramway network at the end of the 1950s, but has come back to trams in recent years to find a solution to the rising car traffic in the city. The first line in the present network was opened in 2010 to link the city center with the neighboring ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of

Scandicci Scandicci () is a ''comune'' (municipality) of c. 50,000 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence. Scandicci borders the following municipalities: Campi Bisenzio, Floren ...

; the second line opened on 11 February 2019, linking the city center with Florence Airport. The current network operator is ''GEST'' (''Gestione Servizio tramviario''), a subsidiary of the French RATP.

History

1879–1958

The first horse-drawn tramway in Florence was inaugurated on 5 April 1879. It linked the city center to Peretola. One year later the original line was extended to reach

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

and

Poggio a Caiano Poggio a Caiano is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Prato in the region of Tuscany in Italy, located south of the provincial capital of Prato. It has 9,944 inhabitants. The town is the birthplace of Filippo Mazzei. Dem ...

. The tramway was managed by ''Società dei Tramways Fiorentini''. In 1898, the company bought out ''Tranvia del Chianti'' company and in the same year the lines were electrified. In 1926, the tram was considered already obsolete, and the first bus routes started. In 1934 the company responsible for the service went out of business. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the tramway was severely damaged, and the network was fully restored only in 1951. From the end of the war the tramway was managed by ATAF. After few years, the infrastructure was deemed too old and inadequate, and the tramway was definitively closed on 20 January 1958.

Modern tramway (2010)

During the early 2000s, the Florence administration decided to restore the tram service. Works on the first line started in December 2005. Construction works were expected to last for 1,000 days, but eventually it took more than 1,800 days to complete the line. Line 1 started operation on 14 February 2010. The first part of Line 1, at

, was the first rail public transport service in the area. During the first 10 months of service, the total passenger served were 7 million, a result considered a success. On 16 July 2018, the line was extended from Florence Santa Maria Novella railway station to the current northern terminus, Careggi.

Lines

Service starts at 5:30 and stops at 0:30. The headway is 4 minutes from 7:30 to 20:30 and 6 minutes at other times. A journey from end to end of Line 1 takes about 23 minutes. Line 2 opened on February 11, 2019. A journey from end to end takes 22 minutes. File:Tram GEST 1003 via del Sansovino Firenze 2010.jpg, The ''Sirio'' 1003 File:Tranvia firenze.JPG, Tramway in piazza Vittorio Veneto File:Test of tramway of Florence 2.png, Tramway test

Fares

Fares for Florentine trams are €1,70 per ride, or €15,50 for a ten ride strip. They can be purchased at stations for the trams.

Technical summary

The rolling stock of Line 1 consists of 19

AnsaldoBreda Hitachi Rail Italy S.p.A. is a multinational rolling stock manufacturer company based in Pistoia, Italy. Formerly AnsaldoBreda S.p.A., a subsidiary of state-owned Finmeccanica, the company was sold in 2015 to Hitachi Rail of Japan. After the dea ...

'' Sirio'', already in use in other cities in Italy and around the world. The route is mainly on reserved lanes. Stops are located at a distance of .

Future plans

Firenze - progetto originario rete tranviaria

Firenze - progetto originario linea tranviaria 2

Line 1 extension

An expansion from Scandicci towards Casellina and Pontignale is planned. The new terminus will be near an exit of the A1 motorway. A Park & Ride will also be built.

Line 2

Line 2 currently runs from the

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial Aviation, air transport. They usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surf ...

to Santa Maria Novella railway station, where it interchanges with line 1. From here, the line should run through the city center in two different branches, also serving the

Duomo ''Duomo'' (, ) is an Italian term for a church with the features of, or having been built to serve as a cathedral, whether or not it currently plays this role. The Duomo of Monza, for example, has never been a diocesan seat and is by definitio ...

in the initial planning. However, after the recent revisions, the line will probably not pass in Duomo and will run partly underground (4 stops). As of 2022, the route has been finalised for completion at the end of 2023, with new stops at Lavagnini, Poliziano, Parterre, Libertà, Cavour and Piazza San Marco. There will be two Cavour stops as the line will follow the street one-way system. Line 2 will be long and will be fundamental in serving the city center, which is planned to become mainly pedestrian.

Line 3

The name Line 3 was used for the Line 1 section between Santa Maria Novella and Careggi. This section was fully opened on 16 July 2018 and it has now been incorporated into Line 1.

Line 4

Line 4 is the long-term plan which will complete the city tramway. The line will have a terminus at Santa Maria Novella railway station and will serve the western part of the city.

Controversies

There were some people who opposed the new tramway lines 2 and 3. A city referendum was held on 17 February 2008. The statute of city referendums do not contains any ''quorum'' clause. Of the 39% of the citizens that voted, the majority was against the construction. The municipality decided to disregard the result of the referendum.