Matera: the one capital with no national railway

Matera is the only provincial capital in Italy with no link to the national rail network, so you arrive on the narrow gauge line from Bari, by coach or by car, and the new railway is not due until 2028.

The railway that does not exist yet

No RFI line reaches Matera in 2026. The new Ferrandina to Matera La Martella line, 20 km of single track electrified railway costing €525¹ million with part of the money from the PNRR, has been under construction since 2023, with design in 2019, permits and tender in 2022, and activation planned for 2028.

Until then the city is served only by the narrow gauge network of the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane. That is the fact behind every itinerary problem here, and it is why a Rome to Matera day trip does not work. Read the only capital without a railway.

What you actually ride: the FAL from Bari

The service contract between the Basilicata region and Ferrovie Appulo Lucane, running 2024 to 2033, sets the direct Matera to Bari journey at 1h25, against 1h42 before, and funds five new battery trains plus a Sunday service planned from September 2026.

The same contract raises the local service around Matera from 32,873² to 80,940² train kilometers a year, with €12.5 million for rolling stock, €9 million for infrastructure and €330,000² for passenger technology. One recent detail worth carrying: the Bari Centrale to Grumo Appula stretch reopened on August 31, 2026 after summer maintenance, with replacement buses in place until August 30. See getting to Matera.

The Sassi were emptied by an act of parliament

Law 619³ of May 17, 1952, titled the clearance of the Sassi districts in the town of Matera, ordered the evacuation of dwellings declared unfit and financed the transfer of their inhabitants: 700³ million lire for expropriations and public works between 1951 and 1955, and 4,500³ million lire for public housing between 1951 and 1957.

Article 7 set out how a dwelling was declared unfit and how quickly the mayor could require it to be vacated; article 14 let families buy their new flat over 35 years. The districts emptied and stayed empty, and repopulation began only in the 1980s. That sequence, and not neglect, is why the caves you photograph were derelict within living memory. More at Matera evacuated by law.

The listing includes the ravine

The Sassi and the park of the rupestrian churches were inscribed on the World Heritage list in 1993 under cultural criteria (iii), (iv) and (v), with a core zone of 1,016⁴ hectares and a buffer zone of 4,365⁴ hectares.

Those hectares matter for planning. The protected area is not only the two cave districts you see from the belvedere but the Gravina ravine opposite, with its rock cut churches, which takes a half day and proper shoes rather than an hour after dinner. See things to do in Matera.

Driving here: three zones, three rules

The yellow zone covering the Sassi is restricted every day from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and from 5:00 pm to 9:30 pm, the blue zone around the Duomo and San Biagio is off limits 24 hours a day, and the green zone in the historic center has three subzones, Mercato, Prefettura and Centro, on seasonal hours.

Deliveries in the urban pedestrian areas are allowed 7:00 am to 10:00 am and 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm, except on holidays. Exemptions cover authorized residents, emergency vehicles, disabled badge holders, electric vehicles and taxis, depending on the zone. The base rule is managerial ordinance 291⁵ of August 27, 2014, and the city publishes the boundaries as KML and GeoJSON, last updated August 9, 2026. If your hotel is inside the Sassi, ask them to register the plate before you arrive. More at the Matera FAQ and Basilicata.

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