That of the Castelli Romani was a capillary tram network, 72 kms long, with 56 stops. It became essential for communications between Rome and different centres served, such as the Roman suburb along the Via Tuscolana, Anagnina and Appia. The various connections, ideated for the most part from 1899 by S.T.F.E.R. (Societā Tranvie e Ferrovie Elettriche di Roma), were introduced between 1906 and 1916 enabling Romans to reach easily Grottaferrata, Fascati, Marino, Genzano, Castel Gandolfo, Albano, Ariccia, Lanuvio, Velletri and, via a cable train, also Rocca di Papa.
Every hour from the end of the line at Stazione Termini, in what is now Via Giovanni Amendola, trams left, full of day trippers and there were many Roman families that from the beginning of the twenty century, thanks to the tram, decided to build holiday residences in the Castelli area.
For travellers for pleasure the journey was very enjoyable, in a particular kind of carriage, called "imperial" or "imperial style". On top there was an upper deck, with wooden seats, from which one had an e'xcellent view of the countryside one passed through. There were even ancient ruins, often right beside this route cutting through the Campagna Romana. The tram reached its maximum efficiency from the fifties onwards, when in some tracts trams were substituted by buses. And so, rather than contest decline with plans of modernisation of the system developed by the tram companies, it was decided to suppress the last tract, the Roma-Albano-Genzano tract, at the beginning of 1965. From then the white and azure "trenini" passed into the collective memory of Lazio. But there remained in circulation the urban stretches of the tram: the Termini-Capanelle, closed to traffic in 1978, the Termini-Cinecittā, survived until 1980, the year in which the Subway a was inaugurated which followed the same route. Today, as a memento of this old link, an old electric motor tram is on display in the Ananigna Subway station. The society Metro, which manages the metro system and is the heir of S.T.F.E.R. (called also S.T.F.E.R. from 1941), is currently setting up the Museum Park, situated by the Porta S. Paolo (Rome-Ostia line). Here other carriages are exhibited, once in use on the tramways of the Castelli.
Platforms in the Campagna Romana
The development of the railways, rather late in the Papal State, began June 7 1856, when the first train moves from Rome to Frascati. In 1859 was inaugurated the Civitavecchia line, followed three years later by the Velletri line, and in 1866 by Roma-Orte. The opening of traffic on the Albano-Nettuno line, happening in 1884, put an end to the isolation of a significant part of the Campagna Romana. A new network came into being for the coastal cities of Anzio and Nettuno, which also made a contribution to the struggle against malaria.
At the end of the nineteenth century the extension of the railway tram system also concerned the main roads, along which hundreds of kilometres of platforms were built to facilitate transport of building materials of the Capital: like "pozzolana", travertine, flint, calcium, etc. Similar tramways, characterised by heavy goods traffic and less frequent travellers, could be noticed along the Via Tiburtina, Flaminia and between Rome and Marino.
At the beginning of twentyth century the tramways of the Castelli Romani had a particular role, developing along the Via Tuscolana, Anagnina and Appia - not to mention the Rome-Fiuggi-Frosinone network, inaugurated in 1917, which was reduced and then closed. This served in the twenties the suburbs of Centocelle, Torre Spaccata and Torre Gaia, that is the new centres of colonialisation, realised following the breaking up of large landed estates along the Via Casilina. In n the 20's two important new railway lines were built: the Rome-Ostia and the Rome-Formia-Naples which crossed the typical countryside of the Campagna Romana.
