Rome subway campaign urges passengers to swap phones for books

“Every book is a journey” on Rome’s subway.
Rome has unveiled a subway train decorated with literary quotations and messages urging passengers to spend their journey reading a book instead of looking at their phones.

Titled Every book is a journey, the initiative was launched on Tuesday and will see a colourful literary train on the Metro A line dedicated to reading for the next three weeks.

Designed to promote reading books on public transport, the subway train comprises six themed carriages, each one devoted to a different genre, from poetry and science fiction to history and children, along with quotations from famed authors.

The reading campaign has been organised by Italian state broadcaster RAI and the Centro per il Libro e la Lettura (CEPELL), an independent institute of Italy’s culture ministry, and will be presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Wednesday.