The high-speed train that will connect Rome to Pompeii

Travelers will soon be able to take a high-speed train from Rome to Pompeii, the ancient city preserved in ash after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD

Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s culture minister, announced the new route earlier this month. The $38 million project will add a new stop near the archaeological site of Pompeii along an existing route between the country’s capital, Naples, and Salerno, as well as a new train station and transit hub.

The new stop will be an “asset for Italy and for culture,” Sangiuliano said on the Italian show “Che Tempo Che Fa,” as reported by James Imam of Ziarul Art.

“I know the term ‘cultural industry’ makes some people uncomfortable, but culture can be a great opportunity for the civic and economic development of Italy,” he added.

Construction is expected to begin by the end of summer. The station will open by the beginning of next year.

The Pompeii Archaeological Park attracted more than 2.9 million visitors in 2022, according to the park’s website. The number of visitors peaked in 2019, when 3.8 million visited the site. While tourism declined in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic, it has since slowly recovered.

Travelers visiting the archaeological park can take guided tours, walk among the preserved buildings, and see rotating exhibits. Until September, the park has an exhibition called “Art and sensuality in the houses of Pompeii”, which explores the erotic sculptures and paintings that archaeologists have discovered in the area.

Currently, Pompeii can be reached by train on the Circumvesuviana route, which stops at several small coastal communities along the Bay of Naples. However, visitors must first take a train from Rome to Naples, then transfer to the Circumvesuviana train. In total, the journey from Rome takes about two hours, according to Art Newspaper.