Rome, 23 February 2016
The mall area inside the Roma Termini station: a major construction phase has been completed regarding the new area dedicated to travellers and visitors.
The status of completion is now at 60 percent. In approximately 3 thousand square metres, a total of 6,500 already have functioning escalators, an elevator, information displays, lighting and toilets. By the summer this area is expected to be open to the public, the first part of this new space created above the tracks.
At the end of the 5,200 square metres dedicated to railway services jobs, the dining and terrace areas will add 30 thousand square metres of commercial spaces and services already present in Rome Termini.
The Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Graziano Delrio, visited the new mall area, still hidden behind the construction walls yet under the watchful eyes of the more than 450 thousand visitors, who crowd the station every day.
Managing Director of Grandi Stazioni Paolo Gallo was on hand to do the honours, along with of CEO of the RFI Maurizio Gentile.
The entire area overlooking the tracks will be air-conditioned and equipped with dining options and services that will have the distinction of being "open to natural light" similar to an open space airport, all located in a comfortable setting and fully integrated with the flows of travellers passing through.
And once in use, the new mall area will also restore to the central station gallery the beauty and the original space it once had, free from all encumbrances and the construction site area.
"Thanks to these measures - said Paolo Gallo - the Termini railway station will be even richer, chocked full of amenities, and reaffirming its role as a reference model for functionality and elegance among the European railway stations."
"Developing Roma Termini's new services for travellers is crucial to the role that the station plays for both the local public transport and the medium and long-distance trains," stressed Maurizio Gentile.
"The goal is to create a more functional structure for travellers and for those who habitually frequents the station".
An extremely complex construction site, humongous in size and located in the most crowded area of the station: a real engineering challenge. Design, construction supervision and carried out by Italians.
A work realized on top of the existing station, but with its own and independent foundations. Also from a seismic point of view, the historic complex; the processes were carried out in a reduced space and without any interruptions to railway traffic.
All materials, from steel beams to the debris from the excavations, were transported at night - while the station was closed - using a special construction site train that runs on the tracks.
Beyond this, Grandi Stazioni is also developing a 1,400-car parking area above the tracks.
The overall financial investment for the implementation of the mall area and the parking lot is 125 million, financed by public funds and by Grandi Stazioni.