Florence Tramway Works to Resume at Piazza Beccaria

Work on Florence’s new tramway line towards Bagno a Ripoli is set to resume in Piazza Beccaria after Italy’s regional cultural heritage commission gave formal approval for construction to continue.

The decision concerns a section of the worksite where construction had been suspended in December, when excavations for underground utilities uncovered remains of Florence’s 14th-century city walls, in an excellent state of preservation. The finds are part of the city’s medieval defensive system and cannot be removed.

Approval was issued by the Regional Commission for Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture (MiC), chaired by the superintendent responsible for Florence. The green light allows works on the tramway line connecting the city centre to Bagno a Ripoli to restart in Piazza Beccaria, under specific conditions aimed at protecting the archaeological remains.

Balance between heritage and infrastructure

According to the Florence city administration, the commission accepted the technical documentation submitted by municipal engineers and heritage specialists, concluding that the public interest in completing the tramway could be reconciled with the preservation of the medieval structures.

The discovery had forced a temporary stop to works in that stretch of the route and raised concerns about possible delays to the overall timetable of the project. City officials have said they will now ask contractors to accelerate construction where possible to recover time lost during the suspension.

A key section of the tramway project

The works in Piazza Beccaria are part of the new tramway line extending eastwards from the city centre, a major public transport project designed to reduce traffic and improve connections between Florence and its surrounding municipalities.

The Florence tramway network is one of the largest infrastructure projects currently under way in the city. Once completed, the Bagno a Ripoli line is expected to serve densely populated neighbourhoods and improve access to hospitals, residential areas and university facilities along the eastern axis of Florence.

Construction will resume in the coming days, with continued archaeological monitoring during excavation, as required by Italy’s heritage protection rules.

Green light for Florence–Sesto Fiorentino tram line

As work resumes in Piazza Beccaria on Florence’s tramway network, regional authorities have also cleared a key procedural hurdle for a major future extension.

The final design for the tram line linking Peretola airport with the centre of Sesto Fiorentino has been approved by the inter-agency services conference.

According to the Tuscany regional government, construction on the line — known as Line 2.2 — could begin in 2027, with passenger service expected to start in 2029.

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