Barberini will only be open to commuters leaving the station.

Rome's central Barberini metro station, which has been closed since its escalator collapsed on 21 March, is expected to reopen in December but only to commuters exiting the Metro A station, whose entry gates will remain closed.

The news emerged on 12 November during a meeting between the Trasparenza di Roma committee and officials from the capital's public transport company ATAC.

Works to fix four of the station's six escalators have concluded and ATAC says it has requested the Italian transport ministry to carry out the required safety tests.

The procedure involved in assigning works to fix the station's two other escalators is still in progress. ATAC says it is required to have the four exit escalators in operation to guarantee public safety in the case of evacuation.

The news was announced on a difficult day for Rome's public transport company. At dawn an ATAC bus burst into flames - the latest in a string of unexplained fires; later that morning a train broke down near Cornelia station, leading to the closure of Metro A between Ottaviano and Battistini; and in the afternoon commuters had to be evacuated from Spagna metro station after it filled with smoke from the broken-down train being towed from Cornelia.

Traders in the area around Barberini told local media that the closed metro station has resulted in them losing 30 per cent of their business since March.