2003: The Launch of a Rapid Transit Station in Italy’s “City of the Sun”

July 5, 2003

In southern Italy, the Materdei station of the rapid transit system serving Naples was officially opened. This station is one of 18 on Line 1 of the Naples Metro. The Materdei station owes its name to the Naples neighborhood in which it is located. This station was designed by Milan-born architect Alessandro Mendini (1931-2019).  

The opening of the Materdei station took place while the transport ministers of the European Union’s member countries were meeting in Naples (also known as the City of the Sun). Those transport ministers, representing all 15 of the European Union (EU) countries at that time, attended the inaugural ceremony for the Naples Metro’s newest station. (The EU now consists of 27 member countries.)

The Naples Metro in its entirety contains 26 stations altogether and encompasses a total of 12.6 miles (20.2 kilometers).  

Photo Credit: MMN.2005 at Italian Wikipedia (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

For more information on the Naples Metro, please check out https://www.urbanrail.net/eu/it/nap/napoli.htm