As a result of the 1955 city plan, the first groups of social housing in working-class Bologna were planned, accommodating the new inhabitants, mainly from southern Italy.

A work by Giuseppe Vaccaro, one of the most famous architects in Bologna, the Treno della Barca is a structure with an indisputable charm: a long stream of flats, a long, low building with flats on two floors and a portico underneath to protect the "promenade" between the shops on the ground floor, in a sort of ante litteram shopping centre. Artisanal activities, bars and shops made the train the beating heart of the area.

Curved gently to follow the path of the road, like a convoy with many wagons, the Treno della Barca is teeming with people just like a train. A fun fact that makes us smile: it was not difficult, in the 70s and 80s, to find notes on the doors of houses saying: "Bye mum, I'm going under the train". A line that would certainly have been cause for concern for those who were not local!