Loading the train ferry to Sicily
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- Italy's most epic sleeper train, the InterCity Notte from Milano Centrale to Palermo & Siracuse, is loaded onto the train ferry to cross the Straits of Messina to Sicily. It's the only place left in Europe where passenger trains go onto a ferry.
So great to see this. As a 5 year old in 1971 I did this leg with my parents and the experience was one that really helped develop my love for trains and ships. Thanks for helping me relive that fun memory!
There are quite a few videos that show this boarding on RUclips. It still blows my mind on how they can shunt various trains onto the ferries like clockwork 👍
I've just booked my flights to Italy for my 40th birthday and will be getting this train from Naples during the day and then the night train to Milan. Sooo exciting! Your site is one of my most visited and inspires me so much. I absolutely love train journeys.
Naples to Milan isn’t very long
@@mattobadia I'm not travelling from Naples to Milan. I'm travelling Naples to Palermo and then Palermo to Milan.
@@irishmunchkin oh ok, please let me know if you see any 2 bed cabins!
I am truly surprised that they continue to do this, but I'm glad they do!
Unless and until a fixed link (bridge or tunnel) is built across to Sicily, Italian railways will have to use passenger train ferries.
@@Fan652w Couldn't passengers switch to another train the way we did when we crossed the English Channel in the old days before Eurostar?
Passengers could indeed travel train-boat-train as used to be the case across the English Channel. But through trains are far more convenient, especially for families and people with luggage, I am sure there would be an outcry in Sicily if these train ferries were withdrawn. Remember Sicily is part of italy, whereas Calais ceased to be ruled by England in about 1550!
You would not want to piss off mafia members.😂😂😂😂
Did something similar to this coming back from Hamburg. Thanks for sharing
Your video has added a new item on my bucket list.😆
I did this trip to Siracusa two years ago. I knew that this was going to happen, I may have even watched a video about it, but actually experiencing it is remarkable. Thanks for the video!
I find sleeper trains magic - ferry trains also magic - i really have to try this route!
I am from Reggio Calabria, next to Villa. It’s amazing you were there, thanks for shooting this video!
We need that between Quebec and Nunavut, but the icebreaker version.
im from Sicily and this remind me my train adventures to Rome and Milan!
I never knew this could be done! Wow! 👌
These train ferries have been in use for decades. Those ferries are huge!
Nice video
Hermoso video, gracias por compartir!
Amazing. Am still so curious about the exact point where the tracks of solid ground and the tracks of ship meet, and how do they keep that point aligned and stable when the sea is a bit rough.
1)The spot fits perfectly the ship ..that dock was built with the super vision of Fincantieri (the ship builder) and can be operated just by 7 Ferry ship ( The Scilla,Villa,Riace,Fata, Morgana,Loguduro, Messina and Iginia)
2)the bridge equipped with tracks is closely connected and operated by lifting and lowering devices and this only after the ship has been correctly moored and secured to the quay. The trains are loaded smoothly under shunting conditions, pushed by special locomotives, dividing them into sections and loading them symmetrically on the on-board tracks in order to avoid unbalancing the ship's load and its anomalous inclination. The rolling stock is then braked thoroughly and, in case of very rough seas, secured with special tie rods.
How do they compensate for different water heights compared to the land? Is the ferry enclosed in a gated lock until loading is completed?
I'm going to and from Malta by train next week, with a lot of plans allowing for possible train delays etc. I don't suppose you [or anyone else] know if the Catania-Rome train gets delayed often by a significant amount? I'm thinking to book a train from Rome after my expected arrival at 18:34, but I'm not sure whether I could get away with booking a train at say 19:25 or be really safe and go for after 9pm.
The Intercity night 1955, which left yesterday evening from Rome Termini, arrived in Catania even earlier this morning (8:07 instead of 8:20)
I don't like flying and my Sicilian girlfriend has been saying for years "We can't get the train to Sicily" "wE cAnT gEt ThE tRaIn To SiCiLy" Ha! Looks like we can and my grand tour of Italy is a go!
You could do that for literally, years. I was about six when first time experienced the train on a ship on this exact spot :D And it was 20 yeats ago.
They do not have the high/low tide issues that they used to have in Dover or Harwich. That makes things a lot easier.
These lucky Italians. Italians thrive on pure luck and zero work.😂😂😂😂
actually the tide is about half meter of excursion, there
So how do they align the ferry and dock regarding that half metre tidal variation?
@@user-pu1jy1is4q with a mobile bridge, you can see it in the video and in the first picture, with wood and rails inside. They adjust the bridge glide from land to ferry with those huge grey cranks
@@eulero75 thanks!
Would it work on Bali Strait (handling Surabaya - Jember - Banyuwangi - Denpasar line).
It would be awesome if it would. It will be an experience.
Yes just done this 1st October stayed in Taormina caught the 1217 Milan train and got off at villa st Giovanni well worth the €11 one way ticket and strange watching your train being put onto a ship
Thanks for a very interesting video! Am I right in thinking this is now the only place in Europe where passenger trains are shunted on to ferries?
I suspect it's not just the only place in Europe this is done with passenger trains - it's the only place in the world.
@@rjs_698 having just looked, wikipedia does have a list of both current and former train ferries- it isn't entirely clear at a cursory glance how many of the current ones are freight only
Pretty sure it’s the only one left in Europe since the train ferry from Rødby to Puttgarden was discontinued. When I caught the latter the short train loaded as a single unit.
@@MercenaryPen I have had a quick look at the Wikipedia list, and it is reasonably clear that this Sicily ferry is the only regular PASSENGER train ferry left in Europe. The others are freight only. I believe Trelleborg-Rostock took Stockholm-Malmo-Berlin trains until relatively recently. However the new services between Stockholm and Berlin go via the Oresund and Storbaelt bridges, with the advantage that they also serve Copenhagen and Hamburg. See European Rail Timetable table 50.
What is the name of the ferry (ship?)?
Google ain't givin me nuffin'
Iginia
@@paolopiccardo7054 Thanks 👍
Next they'll be transporting ships on trains across land .
You can see something like this in Poland (Masuria*).
*Masuria (in Polish Mazury, in German Masuren) is a region in north-eastern Poland, between the Vistula and the Baltic, close to the border with Belarus, Lithuania and the Kaliningrad Oblast (Russia). It roughly corresponds to the current Voivodeships of Warmian-Masuria and Podlaskie; the main city is Olsztyn. Very famous for the notable presence of lakes of glacial origin (around 2000) and rivers; furthermore with a notable presence of native vegetation which covers approximately 30% of the territory.
you´re alive! lol
It's quite the adventure, but i can't say it's the most efficient way of getting passengers across. The loading and offloading is quite a well-oiled machine, but it's still quickly 10-15', I'm convinced that passengers walking from the train platform via a walkway onto the ferry can be much faster, like in Helsingborg. Comfortable escalators to get up instead of the stairs in the ferry, no issues with vessels that are loaded to capacity because your train is late, and you have to wait for the next sailing... Because we were over 2 hours late arriving in Villa San Giovanni, we were close to 4 hours late in Palermo...
Lovely adventure, and i can understand why you would do it with IC Notte, especially when you are there in the early morning/late night, but especially for the day trains...
Unfortunately, ‘faster’ here would be largely irrelevant, knocking an hour off an 8 hour journey makes little difference to the competitive position. But replacing a convenient through service with disjointed train, ferry and train requiring 2 changes with luggage and kids would destroy the attractiveness of the service and lose customers. People want a through service above all else. The most sensible improvement - but not as fun - is of course the planned bridge!
@@seat61 not sure if I agree, sure, you can leave your items at your seat when going up in the ferry, but those dinky stairs aren't the most comfortable, and you have to leave everything behind for the duration of the sailing, so you will have to take those stairs at least twice as well.
A comfortable terminal building with escalators and lifts, shops and a waiting room (when you're late and missed the previous sailing) could take off quite a bit of the stress and discomfort. Not if you have to do it in the middle of the night, sure, but I wasn't the only person not very happy we couldn't even leave the train for a moment in VSG because we weren't at a platform, just sitting there for over half an hour.
You can still market the entire connection as a through service, too, with the same reserved seats at either end, but I believe it would probably improve not just speed, but also reliability/delays if you let the easiest cargo to transport, i.e. people, transport themselves.
On a trip from Rome to Palermo, an hour isn't all that impactful, but there are people who might want to travel from e.g. Naples to Messina, or Lamezia to Catania, and then, it starts to weigh a lot more.
@@barvdw I dunno if you know this, but one does not HAVE to leave their seats while the train is on the ferry. the crossing itself is just 20 mins, if their is a group travelling, some can always stay with th eluggage while others go upstairs. and am pretty sure, while this operation gets us train nerds awing and giggling, but their are locals who have done it many times and dont give a damn and sleep through the entire operation.
@@iTube2772 I had the strong impression that they were quite insistent that we all went upstairs, but my train was crossing in the afternoon, not at night, which might have had something to do with it. And it was several hours late, so I was hungry, and in need of some food from the restaurant. Which was disappointing btw, I've had better arancini and pizza, but if you're hungry, everything is good.
Please make a video on Indonesian high speed train.
Does this train part of Eurail Pass?
Yes. But I bought an advance purchase fare (travel+single-bed sleeper) for €84, because if I’d used a pass I’d have to pay a sleeper supplement of about €112 on top of the cost of the pass.
Never knew there was such a thing.
Worst train service in Italy😂😂😂
This view is not shared by other commentators. I have also heard friends comment on how expert the staff are at getting the trains on and off the ships.
rubbish