Designed by Zaha Hadid architects to meet the region’s future demand for rail travel – which has increased by more than 50% in the past decade – once all phases of the station are complete in 2022, Napoli Afragola will become a gateway to southern Italy and key interchange station serving four inter-city lines, three regional lines and a local commuter line.
Inaugurated last year with 18 high-speed trains in each direction, services will increase to 28 trains in each direction as new infrastructure and further phases of the station come on line enabling a further 200 regional and local train services to call at Napoli Afragola daily, creating the important interchange between the national, regional and local rail networks.
Developed to become a vital interchange between local, regional and national rail services, Napoli Afragola is within Italy’s new north/south high-speed rail corridor that will connect the 15 million residents of Campania, Puglia, Molise, Calabria and Sicily in southern Italy with the national high-speed rail network, as well as enable goods and passengers from Europe and northern Italy to easily access the southern ports of Gioia Tauro, Taranto, Bari, Brindisi, Palermo and Augusta.
Located 12km north of Naples, Napoli Afragola station is also planned to serve its local communities of Acerra, Afragola, Caivano, Casalnuovo di Napoli, and Casoria that vary in population from 10,000 to 50,000 residents.
The design enlarges the elevated walkway above the eight platforms to such a degree that it is transformed into the station’s main passenger concourse; creating an inhabited public bridge housing all the services and facilities for departing, arriving and connecting passengers, with direct access to all platforms below.Designed as an extruded trapezoid along its 450m curved path, the station’s elevated concourse is orientated at an angle from the railway tracks to improve its environmental performance. An integrated solar PV array, natural light and ventilation as well as ground source cooling/heating systems will enable the station to minimise energy consumption.
When all rail lines become operational, 32,700 passengers are expected to use the Napoli Afragola station every day (approximately 12 million passengers each year) with up to 4,800 local commuters using the station each morning and evening rush-hour.
