Trams in Rome slow down to 5 km p/h for safety reasons.

Rome's trams travel at an ever slower pace, in some parts of the city between 5 and 10 kilometres per hour, due to the risk of derailing.

This is what is contained in a series of detailed internal reports by the city's public transport company ATAC, as seen by the media.

"Two-thirds of the network should be replaced," the secretary of the Rome and Lazio branch of the Filt Cgil trade union, Daniele Fuligni, told Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

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Unions say one of the main problems is the age of the trams, which in some cases date to the 1950s, and crumbling infrastructure which is only ever "patched up" here and there rather than fully replaced.

The report found that the city's tram lines slow down significantly in specific points, for safety reasons, then pick up speed before having to brake again.

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"The problem is on almost all the tram lines. The works done over the years have all been only partial renovations" - Fuligni told La Repubblica - "For some time now we have been expecting and asking for funds and tenders to be put in place to renew the entire infrastructure. And only then should new trams be purchased."

The tram network needs to be replaced first, says Fuligni, "otherwise even the new trams, on inadequate tracks, would be destroyed in three months."

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Some of the tram lines highlighted in the report, according to online newspaper RomaToday, include the Number 19 which drops to between 5 and 6 km p/h in Valle Giulia; the Number 8 which travels at 10 km p/h along stretches of the Gianicolense, dropping to 5 km p/h at the intersection with Viale Trastevere; and the Number 5 which drops to 5 or 6 km p/h in the area around Porta Maggiore.

As for the Number 2, it has "disappeared" since November, suspended indefinitely due to lack of funds necessary for the maintenance of the tracks, reportedly requiring an investment of €1.5 million, according to La Repubblica.

Photo credit: ste77 / Shutterstock.com.