Italy's transport ministry guarantees funding for Metro C in Rome.

Rome's Metro C, the city's third underground project, will reach Piazza Venezia, after funding was guaranteed by the Italian transport ministry.

The news follows a meeting between Italy's transport minister Paola De Micheli and Rome's mayor Virginia Raggi who described the move as "victory for all citizens."

It was widely speculated in recent weeks that the Metro C project would come to an end at the Roman Forum, where it will connect with the existing Colosseo station on the Metro B line.

Last month Raggi announced the "controlled liquidation" of Roma Metropolitane, the company overseeing the construction of Metro C, however she insisted that the subway project itself was not at risk.

Speaking at the time Raggi said: "Over the years, repeated injections of public money or recapitalisation have been necessary: each year the company [Roma Metropolitane] burns €6 million, so recapitalisation wasn't an option because it's a vicious circle.”

Two weeks later the liquidation plan spawned a major general strike, involving the city's 18 municipal companies, whose workers were striking in solidarity with the employees of Roma Metropolitane.

Local media reported that the tunnel boring machines or "talpe" (moles in English), used for the excavation of Metro C, were to be buried under Via dei Fori Imperiali, without reaching the proposed station at Piazza Venezia.

In recent days there was even a mock funeral for "Filippa the Mole" held in Rome by an eclectic group of mourners comprising the "Bye Bye Raggi" committee, Roma Metropolitane workers and opposition politicians from the centre-left Partito Democratico (PD).

Two days late however, on 21 November, a triumphant Raggi said: "The talpe will not stop at the Roman Forum but will reach Piazza Venezia," thanking the transport minister for her collaboration.

"Metro C is a fundamental work" - Raggi said - "in the overall strategy that aims to make public transport in the Italian capital more efficient and sustainable."