Rome's third metro line to open in October - update 3

(ANSA) - Rome, October 9 - Rome will be ready to open the first section of its metro system's third line, the C line, by the end of the month, the capital's Transport Councillor Guido Improta said Thursday. "We'll open the metro C (line) by the end of October," Improta said. "The technicians are preparing the documentation. The aim is to open the metro (line) in conditions of maximum security. I hope that, if we don't manage to have all the authorizations by Saturday, the delay will only be a few days".
    The first section of the Metro C line, running from Pantano in Rome's eastern suburbs to Centocelle towards the centre, was due to open on October 11 after years of delays. Impronta said the aim was also to "avoid a repeat of what happened with metro B1," an offshoot of the B line running northeast that presented numerous technical problems when it eventually opened to the public in June 2012 after several delays. "There are still details that need to be finalised but we are all working to ensure this happens as soon as possible, but never at the expense of the safety and reliability of the system," he said. Eventually Metro C, which will cross the city east-west, will intersect with the existing metro A line at S. Giovanni and with the newer B line at the Colosseum. Plans contemplate the other terminus in Piazzale Clodio in Prati near the Vatican, or possibly beyond, but currently the project has funding only as far as Piazza Venezia in the city centre and even the final section, linking the planned Fori Imperiali and Venezia stops, is in doubt. Instead the tract linking Centocelle to Fori Imperiali is due for completion by September 2020 according to the website of the general contractor Metro C Spa. Rome currently has a relatively limited metro system for a metropolis of its size, in part due to the difficulties involved in digging tunnels in ground rich with ancient archaeological treasures.