What did I think of .italo? Low speed and High speed trains Verona-Bologna-Florence.
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- Опубликовано: 7 авг 2024
- I travel on a regional train from Verona to Bologna and then on high-speed operator .italo between Bologna to Florence. I miss my train at Verona and try my 'Rock 'n' Roll' high-speed test. An interesting journey. #italo #trenitalia #BolognaCcentrale
Filmed March 2023 | Verona, Italy.
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*** TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:38 Verona Station
00:02:23 I miss my train
00:05:09 The train to Bologna
00:07:15 Arrival Bologna
00:08:10 .italo to Florence
00:09:58 The Rock 'n' Roll Test
00:11:25 Arrival Florence
00:11:55 My impressions
Nice review! Glad you made it after the slightly stressful start! :D
Just a correction at 10:45. You are NOT traveling through Apennine Base Tunnel (which is a 18.5km long tunnel on "old" Diretissima line Bologna-Florence built in 1934), but You are on new Bologna-Florence high-speed (AV) line opened in 2009 which is mostly in tunnels including Vaglia (18.7km), Firenzuola (15.3km), Raticosa (10.4km) and Pianoro (10.8km) just to mention those over 10km. Also the Bologna Centrale high-speed station (AV) is part of 10.1km Bologna bypass tunnel.
Also a new tunnel is planned under Firenze to allow trains to pass without reversing into terminus of Firenze Santa Maria Novella (SMN) station, with a new high-speed station (Firenze Belfiore) being built about a kilometre to the north of SMN.
@@ZvonimirZelenika i took the train last year from Florence to Bologna and it's one of the least scenic trips ever: it's a continuous tunnel. Having said that, it shows the good grade of engineering italian railways had to go through to connect 2 cities in just 35 minutes at high speed. I doubt many other countries would have done better.
Here in UK they are still discussing about HS2, the cost is already 4x higher than when it started and, as far as I know, England doesn't have so many high mountains to go through.
I think the coin and bottle tests are a bit unfair. The train was in a tunnel and would be subject to a lot more aerodynamic buffeting than if it were running in clear air (as presumably the Chinese train was).
Keep doing what your doing, Scott. The viewers, me included love you and your videos.
That placement of USB charger points reminds me of my first (and last!) Dell PC, where the front USB ports were at the bottom of the PC, angled downwards and hidden behind a panel so that you had to lie on the floor and put your head under it to plug anything in.
Great video as always.
I wouldn't call Italo a budget operation, they have several tiers of comfort on their trains, ranging from Smart (which you took) over Prima (wich has a 1-2 layout, and you get a welcome drink and snack) to Club (with some higher quality, fresh snacks and drinks, even better chairs, etc). Last time in Italy, I went with Prima (it was hardly more expensive), and had a very pleasant ride.
Prices are a lot lower in Italy, it's the same on Trenitalia's flagship ETR 1000 Frecciarossa trains, and Standard isn't much more comfortable as Smart (which is okay, but not great if you're a bit taller like I am), but both Premium and Business are similar to what Italo offers. They even have an Executive level, if you really like luxury and spend money. In my case, if Premium is available at a correct price, I'll always opt for that.
I completely agree, this is really inaccurate as a description. Also, surely you would have known about last minute platform changes as it’s a fairly common occurrence.
@@Bid361 while common, I've been duped by a last-minute platform change as well, I was just too far from the main underpass to catch the train. There's a reason why platform changes should be done sparingly, announced as early as possible and preferably not too far away. Trenitalia has a nasty habit of doing it as late as possible and seemingly without a good reason.
Great video! Thank you.
I enjoyed this video. I enjoy all your videos. You had an unlucky day. I travel frequently on Italian railways and my overall view is positive. At Taunton we have frequent changes of platform but no announcements in Italian. Nor do we have Italian on board trains, at least not with with GWR. Does Scotrail do better? In Italy, it is not perfect, but most of the time I hear announcements in English at stations and onboard trains. HST lines in Italy do spend a lot of time in tunnels. They are convenient rather than picturesque. The best routes for tourists who want to savor the country rather than whisk through it, is avoid them.
Italy by train is as reliable and easy as anywhere else, in my experience. Certainly it compares favorably with UK train travel.
Yet another fantastic Vlog Scott keep up the good work
You don't half put yourself through it mate, keep it up 😂👍
Awesome locations, hope you have plenty more films for us from Italy 😀
The little railcars are Aln668 sets. In the north of Italy now they are becoming a rarity. For the train between Verona and Bologna (if you exclude the EuroCity and high speed trains) the faster one is the Brenner-Bologna regional train. Those which are part of the Bologna commuter service (SFM) are usually slower.
And the lady at the ticket office wanted to tell you that you can use your ticket on any regional train on route within 4 hours of validation.
As for the high speed railway station in Bologna Centrale, it is a bit of a labyrinth to get to
Great update Scott, frustrating I bet on the railways full stop but pleased all went well in the end , keep up the good work 👍
Great video Scott
I found on my travels in Italy that Italians have a laid back attitude. Go with the flow. Good video.
why do you live agitated?
@@intersezioni no need to be rude
@@williamkettle8666 and you racist
A lot of Chinese technology is derived from German and Japanese tech. It would be interesting, Scott, to do that waterbottle, coin test on Germanys ICE 3 high speed trains and on the French TGV, too. Many decades ago, I was on a school trip to Edinburgh, and I thought I noticed a taxi rank in Waverley station? Ummm! . A nice vlog, thank you, Scott.😊
Great, Scott
Apart from a few inaccuracies which have been pointed out, this was a good account of the journey.
Always a pleasure! Thank you once again.
Not going to the platform until the train is practically there is a good plan at Birmingham New Street too!
I always plan for one cancellation on important connections too
Nice Video
Glad to see you in my country
That little railcar is sooo cute 🥰
2:43 You can call yourself a real traveler now. It happens to the best of us 😂😂😂😂
Hi Scott. Essential reading for dealing with vagaries of Verona Porta Nuova is Tim Parks’ book from a few years back. Nothing has changed! There are four different routes from Bologna to Firenze. Yours was the high speed line which is 78 km or so all but 5 km being in tunnel including the start at Bologna Centrale. Italians are the tunnelling elite. Enjoyable video.
First of all, I enjoy your Videos a great deal! I recently retired from the travel industry after 40 + years. You inspired and motivated me to undertake similar adventures (minus the video), starting this year. I have however to correct about something you mentioned in this video. Freccia Rosso and Ital trains do not reach their maximum speeds between Florence and Bologna. Try Torino-Milan-Bologna and you will notice that speeds above 300 km/h are quite possible and normal. It also depends on other factors as well, but 300 km/h is no problem for these trains. Its also not quite fair to compare Italian High-speed trains to the ones in China. The Italian trains were around way before China started to build their High-speed network, using a different technology.
Most important regional lines in northern italy are served with new Rock and Pop trains, these old trains still luckily an exception
When I did this route Italo had a train via Brescia, Verona and onto Bologna, Firenze and Roma. This was a much better option if it is still running. It was around 9am or 10am
Nice! Lol noisy. Thanks Scott
last year in verona my train changed platforms right before it got there. Thank God a friendly italian who spoke some English told me, follow us and everyone ran downstairs and back up just as the train pulled in lol. Travel lufe😊
Your ride may have reached 'just' 247 kph top speed, however right on that stretch of high speed line, the speed record on an Italian railway was set at 362 kph, back in 2009.
Have you tried that rock n roll test on the TGV line from Paris to Lyon? I was amazed how smooth and quiet that was
I always catch the train in Verona. Platform changes rarely happen and, when they do, there are repeated announcements both in Italian and English.
Everything Happens at the Right Time
Well, changing platform happens on British trains as well. Although these trains will usually wait a few more minutes, and GWR staffs will go to the originally designated platform to check whether there's passengers not noticing this.
A formel Dutch train behind you at 4.03😮
I used to live in Bologna nice city lovely people
Woow❤
The smoothness of Chinese High Speed Trains probably due to running on newer train tracks.
This video is cringe.
How can compare an high speed railway full of tunnel and mountains (italy) and 15yo old with the new one in china😂
👍👍 from 🇦🇺
The Verona-Bologna branch is actually one of the fastest non high speed ones in Italy. It was revamped to allow 200km/h but regional trains are usually limites to 160km/h.
The saga continues
Porta Nuova? That's yet another flipping Newport! They're everywhere!
Porta in this case means gate (Verona is 100km inland) so it would mean Newgate.
@@ZvonimirZelenika You're right, my bad.
The Central Criminal Court in London stands on Newgate Prison
In fairness it's not uncommon in the UK to have last minute platform changes with no consideration to then hold the train.
The train nightmare was just the same in 2000.
Think the Italo Trains are what the Avanti Pendolinos are Losely based on as they got built in Savigliano, Italy
a) I like rocky trains. b) I like slow trains.
how many minutes did they give you to change platforms? a few mins? 5 mins?
I think youtubers like to make a drama of everything: when you get a train you can have delays, cancellations, derailments. What was your issue in the end? just a change of platform. I take then train every day here in London and these things happen all the time. Also, is it really a problem the charging plug is under the seat? it's better as it's out of the way. Making a fuss of such small things shows how good and efficient the italian railways are
I'm taking Italo from Venice to Florence then on to rome in a couple of weeks👍
You almost took an italian train at Turin airport last year , but decided to stay at the airport
Im sure Italy have the fatest train sin Europe, FrecciaRosa and the Italo, the Freccia Rosa can travel (alhtough it doesnt) at 400KM ph. But it cruises at 325kmph
If a train has lots of stops, we call it Inter Village.
Is that little railcar really wide?
The Bologna-Firenze is the only railway link in the world which cross a high mountain chain allowing a speed up to 300 Km/h. This should be taken into account in a not dismissive in-depth comparison between Italy and other countries such as China where new High speed railways run on vaste planes OR have lower design speed than Bologna-Firenze.
I recently went to Florence - they have trams there
Japan’s Shinkansens would pass the rock n roll test easily
The track quality in the Apennine tunnel on the high speed line is pretty poor even by Italian standards, if I had to guess the fact that it is a single bore tunnel makes it quite hard to do regular track work on it.
Are you off to San Marino whilst you are there
I don’t want to ruin the ‘Will he make it, will he not’ tone of the video, but why start out on a TreNord regional? Between Trenitalia/Frecciarossa and Italo HSR there are at least a dozen trains a day that run directly between Verona Porta Nuova and Firenze Santa Maria Novella. They’ll get you there in an hour and a half and won’t necessitate a change/connection in Bologna. 🤔
Yeah pretty based this guy, also compares Chinese Rail but doesn't say that the section Between Bologna and Firenze is the "slow" part (250km/h)of the route to Roma, the section that goes to milano allows to cruise to 300 km/h, also he wasn't on the fastest train of Italo.
The only thing I agree is the platform change can be annoying(I lost a train once) but its not that common and u can be prepared to deal with it.
If you were listening for "doDICci" you 'd never register "DOdici". Emphasis and double consonants are VERY important and can totally alter the meaning of a word.
Those local trains are dirt cheap..We did Bologna to Florence a few years ago and it was a couple of euros each way
The train you took was Italo Evo which has the top speed of 250 km/h, so it was actually traveling at the top speed (the other Italo train, the AVG can go 300 km/h). Otherwise Italo is very popular with Italians as it offers reliable service and reasonable prices (slightly less than Trenitalia), especialy if you book in advance or/and you are over 65 (discounts up to 60%). If you are a well traveled person (which I assume you are), you shouldn't have missed the platform change announcement. As to your test, I don't see it very relevant: did you check whether the tray table was perfectly horizontal? On most trains it isn't, as passengers tend to move it all the time and it's usually the first thing on the train to become loose.
Haha much better than scotrail 😂😂😂
Thanks scott platform.change a nightmare enjoyed thank you
Those trains are so beautiful but I have heard that rail prices in Italy is very expensive. Are the railways in Italy so expensive or not so expensive.
I live 50km from Parma,with the local trains it takes about and hour and cost me €5,20,a few months ago l took a IC train from my town to Genova (a round trip of 5 hours) and l paid €24,90,
It depends
Regional/regionale veloce(regional express)(cheap)
Intercity (depends when you book) the sooner the cheaper but slightly more than regional
High speed like Intercity depend when you book and Italo is usually cheaper than freccia rossa
Italo is better than most British trains
I Just took my two teenage kids to Italy and we joked that every train (al IC and FR) we were on we the last to come up with a platform indication...I checked on the old fashioned sheet for scheduled platforms and NONE of them went to the expected platform...So I guess very common to have platform alterations...
Hate to say it mate, but you sound a bit grumpy in this one. I mean, what does it matter that the employee spoke " broken English"? You are in a small city in the middle of Italy, be happy she spoke English at all, why would you point that out as part of your video? Im sure most Italians wont complain about the broken Italian of the employee at Liverpool Lime Street, if you get what im saying. And the location of the USB charger... what does it matter? Great that they have one on a budget oriented train, right? And "just" 246 k/h? There is not a single domestic UK train that even goes that fast. And well, when you start comparing trains to the Shinkansen or Chinese service... no one is ever going to match up with that, is it? And they didnt announce the platform change over the speakers in a way that suits you? I dunno mate, just sounds like you were in a bit of a foul mood that day to be honest,. For most people in the UK dealing with inflation and the cost of living crisis a trip like that through Italy is firmly out of reach. You make it sound like a prefectly fine train service and a dream trip for a lot of folks is somehow an ordeal. Critisism is of course part of a review but this video sounded more like a list of nitpicks.
Agreed except on saying that Verona is a "small city in the middle of Italy", as it has around 300.000 inhabitants and is very popular with tourists. But on the other hand who says that every inhabitant of this planet should speak perfect English?
this happens because the wise employers in Italy usually demand to know about 4/5 languages which is actually pretty unrealistic, so they get people who might have a superficial grasp of those languages, but they do not know any of them at an advanced level. Speaking from experience.
You're right especially about the speed. It would have just taken to get some infos about that train's maximum speed. It's not speed that makes the difference anyway on an 80 km section, that's for sure
@maxart3392 Sure, but almost every city in Europe with historic significance is popular with tourists, especially in Italy, and you cant really always expect fluent English from all the staff. Internationally, 300,000 is on the smaller side for a city, population-wise. You probably would expect some railway employees to speak English at Roma Termini, Milano Centrale, perhaps Florence or Venice because they indeed get huge visitor numbers. But Verona? I'd say it's a bit of a stretch to expect Shakespeare from the locals (get it? get it? :D ). And to go as far that you point out your dissatisfaction with the level of English by the station staff in your actual video just sounds a bit arrogant to be honest...
wahey
Who designs these things??? Accountants of course!!!! 😡
Made it with the skin of Ur nose o well tones and tones of time then 😅😅😅
Ah, it’s claimed that Italians need chaos to survive. But, as I’m not Italian, I don’t see how they accept the chaotic situation there.
A 50km trip on a local train costs around €5 and a 5 hour round trip on a IC costs under €25, thats why.
That's an outdated stereotype. I have lived in Italy for over 40 years and it's no better or worse than the UK for example.
Gotta be flexible and adaptive, and this actually is useful about life in general. Otherwise you'd be like a Swiss friend of mine that was all anxious when taking a delayed train here. Anxious for one of the most common obstacles you could have in any situation.
Anyway, it's not as chaotic as that Anglo crafted stereotype pictures us to be
Wouldn't like to do that is disabled
Now I know the correct pronunciation of Bologna. I called it Baloney lol 😂
If you're stoned, it's not Trenitalia's fault.
I see a lot of resentment and stereotypes in this video, change your attitude because the world doesn't have to adapt to you, you are not the center of the world, it's the other way around.
He was not stoned 😂😂
Amazing Italian railways.cheap.amazing