The tramway in the southern Italian metropolis of Naples is in process of modernisation which is definitely needed after decades of neglect and repeated line closures. Some progress was finally made around twenty years ago with the procurement of 22 low-floor trams and a short route extension completed in 2013. However, the need for investment, particularly in infrastructure, remained substantial. Between 2016 and 2020, no trams operated on the city’s streets at all.
Despite concerns that the system might never return, most of the reduced network was eventually reopened. Today, it consists of three route branches with a total network length of around 10 kilometres.
Current operation
This arrangement has remained largely unchanged until now. All three branches are normally served by routes 412 and 421. Starting from the depot in the San Giovanni a Teduccio district, route 421 first operates to Via Cristoforo Colombo (Porto), reverses there, continues to the Poggioreale terminus and then returns to San Giovanni a Teduccio. Route 412 performs the same circuit in the opposite order, travelling first to Poggioreale, then to Via Cristoforo Colombo (Porto), before returning to San Giovanni. As a result, each branch is served in both directions by every tram.
What may sound complicated to visitors is often confusing even for local passengers. It is common to see travellers consulting the driver when boarding to ask where the tram will go next. These services are operated by the short three-section bidirectional low-floor trams supplied by AnsaldoBreda between 2004 and 2007. Although the vehicles have proven robust enough to cope with the often poor track condition, they now show clear signs of deferred maintenance.
In addition, since 9 December 2024, two or three refurbished four-axle single-ended trams dating from the 1930s and 1940s have operated at irregular intervals on the Piazza Nazionale – Stazione Centrale – San Giovanni a Teduccio section. These vehicles received new bodies around 1980, and six are currently available for service. Marketed as the “historic tram”, route 422 provides additional capacity on weekdays.
Tourists, however, make little use of the service, despite the fact that heritage tram operations can often become successful visitor attractions when properly promoted and integrated into a wider tourism strategy. “No service on Sundays” is unlikely to help in this regard. Nevertheless, travelling on these historic vehicles remains a worthwhile experience.
A map of the network can be found here:
https://www.urbanrail.net/eu/it/nap/tram/napoli-tram.htm
Several years of shut-down of the tramway, combined with the complicated route structure and operational disruptions caused by road traffic congestion, particularly during peak hours, has resulted in relatively modest passenger numbers. Unlike many other forms of public transport in Naples, overcrowding is comparatively rare on the tramway.
Expansion and modernisation finally underway
Long-standing plans to modernise and expand the network are now finally becoming reality, thanks in no small part to funding from Italy’s post-Covid recovery programme.
Starting from the existing city-centre section to Via Cristoforo Colombo (Porto), the tramway will first be extended through the harbour tunnel to Piazza Vittoria and from there onwards to Piazza Sannazaro. Operating partly on segregated alignments, the extension will serve important passenger markets, even though Metro Line 6 now follows a broadly similar corridor.
However, Metro Line 6 suffers from lengthy access routes to its underground stations and currently operates at intervals of only 18 to 20 minutes. Remarkably, there is no afternoon service at weekends. This comes despite investments amounting to several hundred million euros over recent years.
Returning to the tramway project – officially referred to as the Tram del Mare (Sea Tram) – the new route along the waterfront is not entirely new. Trams previously served this corridor until 1998, and in the case of Piazza Vittoria until 2016, before the last major wave of closures brought operations to an end.
Construction work is now well advanced. While overhead wiring is still missing on some sections, progress is clearly visible. Since 11 May 2026, the existing waterfront line along Via Marina, including the section to Via Cristoforo Colombo, has also been undergoing renewal works, resulting in further temporary service restrictions.
New vehicles
To partly replace the existing Sirio trams and provide capacity for the future expanded network, operator ANM ordered a fleet of five-section bidirectional low-floor trams from Turkish manufacturer Bozankaya. The first vehicles arrived in Naples during recent months. Measuring 30.5 metres in length, they provide 64 seats and accommodation for up to 210 standing passengers.
The original framework agreement covered 20 vehicles, but has since been expanded to 50 units, of which 35 have been firmly ordered. Five trams have already arrived in Naples and are currently stored at the San Giovanni a Teduccio depot. Extensive testing is expected to begin shortly. However, the existing depot, now more than a century old, lacks the capacity to accommodate all of the new vehicles, and workshop facilities are similarly limited.
For this reason, the existing bus depot on Via Nazionale delle Puglie will also be converted into a tram depot. The line will be extended from Poggioreale to reach the site and will also be used in regular passenger service. Approximately one kilometre of track already exists. This section opened in 2013 as a new-build extension towards Via Stadera, but construction work on Metro Line 1 and the complete closure of the tramway network between 2016 and 2020 prevented services from ever returning. That situation remains unchanged to this day.
A More Promising Future?
Additional tramway expansion projects remain under consideration, including a further extension towards Bagnoli. However, predicting implementation schedules remains difficult. Political uncertainty and, above all, funding challenges have repeatedly delayed public transport projects in Naples.
Nevertheless, in 2026 the outlook for Naples’ tramway appears more positive than it has for many years. Let us remain optimistic that the Tram del Mare will indeed enter service within the next twelve months.
