Taranto railway station is situated at Piazza della Libertà, at the end of Via Duca d'Aosta.

[1] When finished, it would secure the faster and safer rail connection between these two major railway stations and port locations.

Until the late nineteenth century, Taranto was an important railway junction for traffic in foodstuffs and timber from Calabria and Sicily to the Adriatic and the north.

Its importance waned after the opening of the Southern Tyrrhenian railway, which diverted most of this traffic via Salerno and Naples.

The establishment of the Ferrovie del Sud Est (FSE) in 1931 created an additional source of regional traffic, via Martina Franca.