Oren’s Reading List: 99% Invisible’s Train Set

Posted on May 16, 2022 by Oren

Breda MB100 Stock at Colosseo, May 2, 2008

Do you like trains? You’re here, so the answer to that is probably “yes.” Do you like podcasts and if so, what are your favorites? I’m going to go out on a hunch and assume many people reading this have heard of 99% Invisible. The show’s own website describes the podcasts as “a sound-rich, narrative podcast hosted by Roman Mars about all the thought that goes into the things we don’t think about — the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world.” Naturally, this includes many topics related to urbanism, cities, and transportation.

This week’s episode is entitled “Train Set” and features seven short train related topics. You may be familiar with some of them even before listening to the podcast, such as the publicly staged train crash in Crush, Texas or the challenges of building the Rome Metro (which I’ve written about previously). It is definitely worth a listen, and you can do that by clicking here (or finding 99% Invisible wherever you listen to podcasts).

Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.

Rail Photo of the Month: May 2022

Posted on May 2, 2022 by Oren

Stanga 7003

Location: Piazza del Risorgimento, Rome, Italy
Operator of Vehicle: ATAC
Date of Photo: January 20, 2008

Rome is quite known for its ancient history, and attractions such as the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Vatican Museums, and more draw millions of tourists to the city each year. It probably doesn’t come as a surprise that many of Rome’s trams currently in service were built over 70 years ago, and to my knowledge, there are currently no plans to replace them. While some low floor trams operate on lines 2 and 8 (they are required on the latter due to a lack of turning loops at the terminals), the other lines mostly operate these single ended articulated trams that were commissioned shortly following World War II.

Although the trams might be quite old (dare I say ancient?), the rolling stock for lines A and B of the Rome Metro was constructed in this century. And the newest line, Line C, is fully automated.

For more photos of Stanga trams in Rome, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: April 2020

Posted on April 1, 2020 by Oren

BredaMenarinibus M321 108

Location: Via Torre de Argentina at Largo Argentina, Rome, Italy Operator of Vehicle: ATAC Date of Photo: February 5, 2008

There’s no sugarcoating what is on my mind right now. I spent five months living in the heart of Rome in early 2008. When I picture the streets of Rome, I picture bustling sidewalks and piazzas full of people. The streets are filled with vehicular traffic, and buses go by packed with people to the point you always have to be aware of potential pickpockets. The photos I’ve seen from Italy (among other places) in the world in light of the current Covid-19 health crisis are surreal. I haven’t been on a transit vehicle in two weeks. Who knows when I’ll next take a transit ride. And let’s be honest, that’s a pretty trivial question right now. However, I do hope that as a society, we are able to return to our normal ways of life as soon as it is safe to do so, and that the streets of Rome look more like they did at this time in 2008, pictured here, than they do today. For more photos of Rome’s BredaMenarinibus Buses, please click here.

Bus Photo of the Month: February 2019

Posted on February 1, 2019 by Oren

TecnoBus Gulliver 10

Location: Via Florida at Largo Argentina, Rome, Italy
Operator of Vehicle: ATAC
Date of Photo: January 29, 2008

Many bus systems throughout the world are beginning to make a strong push towards electric powered vehicles. However, some agencies have already experimented with electric buses, to varying degrees of success. In 1995, Rome ordered nearly 60 Gulliver electric buses from TecnoBus to run on a handful of routes that could not handle standard size buses. These buses, in addition to being less than 6 meters (18 feet) long, also did not create vibrations that would damage old buildings in and near the city center. The original fleet has been since been replaced by newer buses around 2010. Unfortunately, the entire fleet was sidelined in 2014 after several buses caught fire. Last year, the Rome municipality and TecnoBus reached an agreement to “revamp” the buses in an effort to get them back on the street. More recently, TecnoBus was purchased by the Italian firm Enertronica.

For more photos of Rome’s TecnoBus Gulliver buses, please click here.

Oren’s Reading List: When Building a Subway in Rome…

Posted on May 18, 2016 by Oren

CAF MA100 Stock RA-357.0 at Manzoni, May 2, 2008

When the first two lines of the Rome Metro were constructed in the 1950s and 1980s, there were many delays in finishing the project. As Rome is one of the oldest cities in the world, each time an archeological discovery was made during construction, experts were called in to evaluate whether the uncovered items needed to be preserved before construction could proceed. The Rome Metro isn’t by any means the only transit system that has faced this sort of issue. The Jerusalem Light Rail construction was delayed several times by archeological finds. And construction of Mexico City’s subway has turned up many archeological findings from the Aztec empire.

When Rome began planning construction on its third Metro line, it was announced that the line would be constructed deep enough to avoid possible archeological findings, and only that at stations might where connections would need to be made between the station platforms and street level might there be issues. Well lo and behold, in constructing the Amba Aradam station, crews came across barracks dating to the second century. The barracks cover an area of 9600 square feet and include 39 rooms, complete with mosaics and frescoes on the walls and floors. How long do you think it will be before they unearth something else?

Rome Metro Line C is scheduled to open in 2020. You can see photos of the barracks and other findings at the Amba Aradam station site by clicking here.