Webuild and Vianini Lavori kick off Rome Metro Line C T1 extension
A consortium led by Italian construction heavyweights Webuild and Vianini Lavori is mobilizing to start work on the T1 extension of Rome Metro’s Line C, after the city’s transport authority handed over control of the designated sites.
The 3-kilometer extension will push Line C farther northwest, adding two underground stations—Auditorium and Farnesina—that are designed to serve the Flaminio and Foro Italico neighborhoods, home to cultural landmarks such as the Auditorium Parco della Musica, the MAXXI national museum of 21st-century art, and the Foro Italico sports complex.
Preliminary activities, including site clearing and geotechnical surveys, are already under way at both station locations. Once completed, these two stops will join five others currently under construction along the same route: Venezia, Chiesa Nuova, Piazza Pia/Castel Sant'Angelo, Ottaviano, and Mazzini.
The Auditorium station, situated next to the Palazzetto dello Sport arena, will feature three entrances and descend 45 meters across six underground levels. Farnesina, planned as the line’s new western terminus, will have three entrances and reach a depth of 43 meters across seven levels. Its design also allows for a future extension toward Grottarossa and Tor di Quinto, a corridor that has long been underserved by rapid transit.
Engineering challenges on the T1 segment are formidable. Contractors will build reinforced concrete diaphragm walls plunging as deep as 80 meters, and tunnel-boring machines will carve the twin-bore tunnels. The alignment crosses beneath the Tiber River at three separate points; the most technically demanding section lies between Piazza Pia/Castel Sant'Angelo and Chiesa Nuova, where the tunnel will pass just over 20 meters below the riverbed.
When fully operational, Line C will span 29 kilometers with 31 stations, running from Monte Compatri/Pantano in the east to Farnesina in the west. Currently, 24 stations are in service, with the most recent segment—reaching Colosseo/Fori Imperiali in the city center—having opened last December.
Rome’s metro expansion is seen as critical to reducing car dependency and linking peripheral districts with the historic core. As Webuild noted in a statement, Line C connects parts of the city that today are separated by long and complex travel routes, promising to cut journey times and improve access to employment, education, and cultural venues.