Thank you for clicking on this video and I hope you enjoy this especially long vlog of this trip, filmed during the gorgeous Italian summer this year. Check out the description text for some of the material I used to research the video, I know some of you ask where I find stuff out...so...! Follow me on Twitter: @paul_winginit ¦ twitter.com/paul_winginit Follow me on Instagram: paul_winginit ¦ instagram.com/paul_winginit My website: www.winginit.me
It’s definitely faster and more convenient to just get passengers to walk onto a ferry. At the Messina end there’s a terminal to do just that, Marittima station. Train ferries are monstrously inefficient, the 3.5 mile crossing takes a total of over two hours by official timetable. Add to that the risk of stranding rolling stock on one side or other of the gap and it’s an operational nightmare. Whatever the reason for continuing the ferry is, it definitely won’t be an operational one!
@@Paul_Lucas indeed, it's purely convenience for the passengers, which plays more of a role with overnight trains, I'd say. And perhaps to get trains regularly to a depot for maintenance. If you're travelling in the day, I'd change at Reggio di Calabria on to a ferry to Messina, they go about every half hour, cost a pittance, and according to friends, they are a lot more comfortable than the FS ferries from Villa San Giovanni. But I agree, there's something about train ferries that just makes them extremely fun, I've taken the former train ferry to Denmark a number of times, it's great how they just drive on the boat, let you get upstairs for a bite in the cafeteria and some air on the deck... This trip has been on my bucket list for quite some time, now. I've taken a few Italian ICNottes, but they went to Puglia and Campania, not Calabria and Sicily. I like ICNottes, they are convenient, relatively cheap and comfortable and they go everywhere in Italy. I like the Deluxe sleepers, but not in a trio. As a double, it's okay, but it's more crowded in a Deluxe trio than in a full couchette imo. I only miss catering, as you said, that 'breakfast' is hardly worth mentioning.
@@barvdw Thank you. I took a train from Hamburg to Copenhagen some 20+ years ago and that included a ferry around half way. From what I can tell, this is still working. I confess I cannot remember what was involved in putting the trains on and taking them off of the ferry.
I think the ferrying of the train idea makes more sense when the crossing happens at night when most passengers are fast asleep in their cabin. If you're a heavy sleeper you could go to sleep on mainland Italy and wake up already in Sicily. Imagine trying to wake everyone up in the middle of the night, and having to make sure that no one is left behind.
Not at all,try to build the longest bridge in the world in an highly seismic area with one of the most active vulcanoes in the world nearby,actually two if you add Stromboli vulcano that could cause a massive tsunami if it erupted in a massive way.
@@callisto3605 you are correct in saying that a bridge wouldnt be feasible in this area, but you could also just get off the train, get a passenger ferry to Sicily, and then board another train when you get there. But I honestly think that train ferries add a bit of charm to trips
My Dad told me stories of the 'Italian boat train' more than 50 years ago, amazing to still see one of them still in operation. Another amazing trip, thank you.
€89 feels like an absolute bargain for single occupancy of a sleeper cabin combined with several hundred mils' transport, even counting the lack of on-board food sales.
@@Paul_Lucas Yeah - to me (and especially in the more scenic parts of Europe) flying seems like the travel equivalent of renting a film back in the days of VHS and playing it on fast-forward so you've watched it in ten minutes rather than two hours - great if your only aim is to get to the credits quickly :D
@@Paul_Lucas "...although much less fun." Definitely! Thank you very much for your very nice trip report to my hometown! The railway line along the coast line is wonderful! Best wishes and greetings!
Trenitalia listened to you, Paul. Nowadays they offer extra water, a small breakfast (Italians don’t make much of breakfast anyway) and yes, after a delay we got a complete menu offer from the train personell. It was after the crossing of the Strait of Messina. Did this trip a few weeks ago (early June 2022)
When I went to Morocco with my mom we travelled around the entire country taking trains. Nothing quite like a relaxing train ride. Love traveling vicariously through your videos!
Arriving in Messina you can see the yellow ferry of the Telepass company. It can only be used by motorists equipped with a "telepass", which therefore allows direct access to the ferry as if it were a toll motorway!
Paul, excellent report. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The reason for the ferry turning is that it only goes in one direction. It's not a double-ender. Bow-thrusters at both ends but propellers only on one end.
Yes, and then there was the one about when in Rome when he was actually on the ferry in the south of Italy, which only works as a pun when you are still in Italy.
The bridge is very difficult to desing, not because of the lenght (3,5km) but because the two coasts lay on 2 different tectonic plate with a fault in the middle of the sea... and Sicily moves about 3cm EVERY YEAR away from Italian mainland. Also strong eartquakes are expected in that area (like the one at the beginning of the 20th century). It's not like doing a bridge between Denmark and Sweden, nor, digging a tunnel from France to Britain: the sea here is over 200m deep.
Man I miss Italy, and Sicily. I got to spend 2 weeks there while waiting to get transferred to my career while I was in the USN, and Palermo was lovely.
I was USN at the Naval Hospital i while it was in Agnano/Napoli back in the 80s I traveled up and down the length of Italy on trains.. Ahhhhh the memories. There was no italian High Speed back then, and scioperi (strikes) could break out at any moment so I feel for his story about the failed train.
Italy is such a historical country! Amazing to think of all the dramatic events have occurred over the centuries in both Italy and Sicily! The answer about the Ferry is, Tradition/bureaucracy! Still I'm sure it's a unique and quaint experience. I wonder how they tie the train cars down in case of rough seas and also if the train ever has to wait out heavy seas before being loaded on or taken off.
now some politicians are pushing a bit on the project of building a bridge over the strait but the main opposition comes from ferry operators who basically are sustaining a lot of things both in Messina and Reggio Calabria (though the ferry actually leaves Villa San Giovanni) and they would lose their job because of that
Wow, an architecture viewing with history lesson, extended views of a beautiful coastline and countryside, as well as a trip review aboard a train AND a ferry, must be Paul Lucas at his best! Really loved this one Paul! Watching your travel adventures has been one of the activities that has helped me cope with this rotten year, many thanks.
Hello everybody from Sicily. Why to mantain direct trains from Sicily to the mainland it's obvious. Efficiency and comfort of the service. This trains are often used with people with tons of luggage. Change the train is simply impossible. In Italy (and Europe) right to mobility is very, very important, so the number of train lines is insane. Reduce the distances is a mandatory aim for the European Union, so the link beetween Sicily and mainland has been added as strategic, and inserted in the TEN-T corridor 1. There is also an hydrofoil service between Messina and Villa San Giovanni syncronized with trains time, but this is another story. It is important to have several possibities to reach the mainland, with low fares. In italian this is called "continuità territoriale"
In reality, there is also a ferry line that connects Villa San Giovanni with Golfo Aranci Marittima (Sardinia), but it is used rarely and only for freight wagons or to send Diesel locomotives and railcars from Sardinia to the continent to be overhauled at some Trenitalia workshop. In the past, the FS ferries to Golfo Aranci Marittima set sail from Civitavecchia Marittima and also transported cars, trucks and passengers on foot.
Thanks to this video, which I watched last February, whiling away the time while I had covid. On the strength of it I made the trip and I can't recommend it highly enough.
I remember catching the night train in 89 from Amsterdam to Copenhagen and waking up in the middle of the night on a boat, I'd slept through the shunting... bizzare experience as I got out of bed and wondered up to the deck a little bewilderd
Paul, kindest thanks for taking all of us home-bound Yanks on a beautiful south Italy train adventure. That Mediterranean blue is mesmerizing, just like I remember from the Dalmatian coast in Croatia. And I love the travel details from your vids about the passenger amenities to enjoy courtesy of the airline or railway. Those details (sink operation, toothbrush, plug availability, the lot) really boost your work to a traveler audience. Those little details can make or break a trip, as you know, and including them is appreciated. *Very well done!*
Aww seeing my family village on RUclips during this pandemic is not something I expected to happen! I made that sleeper train travel from Milan to Patti and back so many times in my life, I live in Milan but I also have a home down below the sanctuary you can see at 30:18, which is the Tyndaris sanctuary. It was nice to see it from your perspective, even because I've switched to plane travel a few years ago when it got easier to get to my village. And also because that was my grandad's final trip a few months ago, before having to go to a hospital in Milan and being infected there, never recovering.
I took the Malmö-Berlin sleeper train with my father back in 2008. It was a really cool experience to sleep on a train, which is on a ferry. and if you want you can just walk out and explore the ferry! But i do remember it as a much simpler procedure than this. Great video as always!
Before the activation of the long tunnel under the "Peloritani" mountain chain, the heaviest trains, including the legendary "Treno del Sole" from Turin Porta Nuova to Palermo, from Messina were pushed at the end with a "releasable link in race". Other routes along which passenger and freight trains were pushed in the queue with a "link that can be released while running" were those between Nocera Superiore and Cava dei Tirreni as well as between Agropoli and Vallo della Lucania, in both directions.
Hi, I live in Messina, I can tell you a bit of context about why a lot of people got off the train at Villa San Giovanni, before the ferry journey If you live in Messina is a lot, quicker, 1 hour minimum, to get off at Villa and take a quick transit boat, or auto ferry, to Messina then to wait the train to split off at Villa, reassembly in Messina Marittima and arrival in Messina Centrale Also, for the same reason, a lot of traveller bound to Siracusa or Palermo prefers to take the quick transit, and then a regional train from Messina Centrale ( 200m from quick transit arrival port in Messina ) to their destination
Also about your question "why does this exists" Nowadays you are right, and a lot of sleepers or intercity trains now DON"T cross the strait. 10/20 years ago the number was way, way high. Today the service is still in place for a small number of trains, the majority of north-south trains starts now from Reggio Calabria, the next station after villa, and the end of the line for the South Tirrenian Raiway. There was a lot of rumours of a complete switch off of rail crossing of the strait from politician, but we Sicilian want the service to still exist, because it can provide a service for people who could have a lot of problem in get off or get in the trains ( A lot of luggages, elderly or disable people etc... ). This way someone can take the train at their local station, and get off at their destination, without inconveniences If you have other curiosities please ask!
Bonus Topic! I live near the train roundabout shown on the video, and the Old Railway bridge on the old route from Messina to Villafranca is one of the few Infrastractures that predates the 1908 Earthquake in Messina! What a masterpiece of late 800' engineering
Always love the train journeys, Paul. You get such great footage and they seem more intimate and relaxed than the plane trips. It feels like we are really along with you for the ride for part of your trip.
Paul, Who knows how long this train ferry will be operating, but all these delays and maneuvers just add to the fun of this trip across possibly the most beautiful country in the western world. Even the hitchhiker delay added to the video.! Isn't it the unpredictable moments that you remember the most? Thank you Paul, This video was a winner! Cheers, Rik Spector
As long as you are not in a hurry and don't expect the train to arrive on time. The Italians do have very fast and reliable trains, but you have to pay serious money to use them.
Around 15 years ago I worked for a time in Baku, Azerbaijan, living in a flat with panoramic views over the port and could watch freight trains being loaded onto a ferry to cross the Caspian to Turkmenistan.
Milan Centrale does remind me a lot of Union Station in D.C., although the latter totally loses it once you get to the actual gates, when the place suddenly shifts from the grand hall and shopping to what looks like a bus station.
In May 1978 my wife & I got the night train from London to Paris. I think it went Dover to Calais or maybe Dunkerque. We wandered around the boat and were amazed to see that there was a train on the boat. We hadn't realised they did that. Apparently the first class passengers could stay in bed for the whole night that way. Of course that service has long gone.
Correct. The service was called the ‘Night Ferry’ and ceased operation in 1980. There’s a 1976 children’s film of the same name set onboard that very train.
spent many an hr on a cruise ship watching them loading and unloading trains in messina, when you have been there several times its more interesting that doing the trips, messina nice to wander round to
Amazing! I am from Calabria but I live in Milan and I often use this train to come back to my hometown, Paola. I could see a little part of its waterfront in your video!
I have found your videos, most interesting, full of perfect commentary. Very knowledgeable. Real professional work with excellent editing, camera and sound quality. Above all, wonderful oratory skills, keep us glued till the end. Keep walking.
Yes Chris, I agree, they come ready wrapped It makes me amazed and annoyed when I see people in the supermarket putting bananas in the plastic bags on the fruit aisle. Non-biodegradable plastic bags!
Hello. Congratulations excellent video and excellent photo description of the trip. I'm Italian from Milan, passionate like you about train travel, especially towards Sicily. Thank you for sharing your beautiful journey. Good continuation.
Please Please Please do a video on the Kit and stuff you bring on your trips!! What camera equipment would you need?, Your General Set Ups in flight etc and even what power banks or adapters you use as they have to be good quality!
Hiya. Thanks, Paul. Have just spent a pleasant half hour being reminded/daydreaming of my own travels in Italy, many moons ago. Also, mainly by train. Dammit! Lol, now I SO want to go back. Stay safe. All the best to you.
Andy when were your travels in Italy>? I was stationed in Naples 1987-1991, and ended up going AL OVER the damn place Even took trains from Lecce in the heel all the way to Trieste!
I took a train from Milano (a very hot and humid city), changing at Napoli, and although the train carried Palermo signs I wanted Bari to get to Corfu so never repeated the journey to get to Palermo, oh well,. The trains then were quite old and fortunately the windows could be opened competely for fresh air! This was back in, oh about 1973.
We did this with our two kids in 2019 on a 3 week interrail - specifically using the overnight sleeper (Rome to Catania) to get as far south as we could. On the night crossing there is no issue getting off the train (most people did). We had two adjacent cabins so we could open the adjoining door to the kids. Also look out for the "Excelsior" standard cabins - which can be a real fiddle to book but have private bathrooms (we didn't manage it but Mr Seat61 was very helpful on this....). As for the bridge - there have been plans for 40+ years - I suspect strongly that "through trains" continuing is a political fudge to keep the South onboad.
Thank you for posting this. There is always something special about trains. After viewing your video on the Indian Express in Australia, my wife and I have decided that will be on our bucket list of places to visit after covid. Thanks again and stay safe.
I had a ferry like that in the northern part of Germany between the island Fehrman and Rodbyhavn on the way to Copenhagen in Denmark. Takes a lot of time to split up the train and to re-connect it. But it is fun to see how it is done. Nice video, Paul.
@@erik_griswold Of course they had, and likewise on the Storebælt crossing. But the new ferries introduced i the 90'ies was made to fit 2 IC3 trainsets Thats also the reason why they only had one ICE TD set on board because they could not fit more Into it. The reason being that 2 IC3 trainsets was 6 wagons, but 2 ICE TD trainsets was 8 wagons long.
This was a very interesting and enjoyable video to watch. And it brought back memories of 1982. Back then, I had a Go-as-you-please Ferrovie Dello Stato de Italiane rover ticket. On one part of the journey from Brindisi to Sicily, I had to change trains at Taranto in the middle of the night. But once on board, the train continued around the "foot" of the Italian mainland until it terminated at Reggio Calabria. I boarded the ferry and watched as it sailed to Messina not long after daybreak. It was a lovely experience. About two weeks later, I boarded a train from Palermo to Roma Termini. It was a night train, but I did not have the comfort of a bed nor couchette. Instead, I leaned out of the cabin window to witness the splitting of the train into three sections as it shunted back and forth onto the ferry. On that sailing, nobody alighted, but I have learned much by the experience as the train pulled into the Rome terminus about lunchtime on the following day. I have wondered why no bridge had ever being built across the Messina Strait. One reason is that that area is an earthquake zone (with Mt Etna not far away.) Another reason was that the Mafia would have wanted to get involved with the construction, much to the distaste of the Government. And so, now more modernised, the ferry service continues...
Excellent video! 6 tremely helpful when you add commentary. Your video so become the best travel videos on RUclips. All of the information that a traveller needs. Keep up the great work!
Awesome video as always! As an Italian I love to travel with InterCity Notte trains, even though I think there is room for improvement in terms of what these services offer
Thanks for the review! I'll taking the ICN from Bologna to Catania leaving around 10 p.m. mid October. Really looking forward to the iconic crossing by ferry. Will be my southern most place reached by train.
looks like it might be a dual purpose ferry, it has ramps on both ends to handle vehicles as well as trains, but they swapped ends on your trip because according to the tracks in the deck, the trains can only load from the one end.
Wow loved this video. Never knew that 'ferry train boats' existed. Love this video, I'm gonna watch all of them to see what surprises & info is instore. Thanks.
Paul, you should come to Portugal next summer and take the train up through the Douro River. It's called "Comboio Histórico do Douro". It's a steam train, the only one in Portugal, it's historic and the views are amazing once you go all the way from Porto to the border with Spain, passing the famous Oporto Vineyards. Definitely have a look on that. Cheers!
When you were messing with the door I started laughing because it reminded me of the movie Silver Streak with Gene Wilder. It's an awesome movie if you have never seen it
What a great video and journey! Actually I had to take this kind of sleeper, from Palermo to Rome (and then Intercity to Bologna where I live) so I had to see the ferry transit during the night, where passengers were still allowed into the decks, sadly without bar service but still a great experience, I am planning to do it again this summer but with the ferry journey during daylight. Anyway, restaurant service has been canceled from Intercity trains (both on day and night services) since the implementation of high speed trains, trying to promote those more than slower Intercity services, that became less used by passengers, and the number of these sleeper trains has been reduced a lot also because of low cost airline carriers, who took lot of users of this trains. Anyway, I heard that this kind of service will be kept, because Fondazione FS (a no-profit company of the Gruppo FS, wich also Trenitalia is part), which is the company that cares and manages heritage trains, services and museums, is noticing that this train ferry is becoming a tourist attraction for more and more international tourists. That's great, Fondazione FS has actually saw many and many videos like this! So thank you for your amazing video! If you are a rail enthusiast you should definitely get a look to their website: www.fondazionefs.it/content/fondazionefs/en.html
Did this last year, on the sleeper from Rome and back to Naples via the day train, which was great seeing the shunting and ferry crossing in daylight. Great experience ....
13:20 Often this train makes very high delays, once I happened to travel on this train and arrive with 150 minutes of delay, a few weeks ago a train from Syracuse/ Palermo to Milan has done more than six hours of delay
Never happened to me, i take that train twice a year and it would normally reach Palermo about 15, even 20 mins early sometimes. I'm quite stunned in learning, both from this video and this comment, that it can actually get that bad, i've never experienced that
Thank you for clicking on this video and I hope you enjoy this especially long vlog of this trip, filmed during the gorgeous Italian summer this year. Check out the description text for some of the material I used to research the video, I know some of you ask where I find stuff out...so...!
Follow me on Twitter: @paul_winginit ¦ twitter.com/paul_winginit
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hi paul its louis your fan i enjoyed watching this video the coaches were like gner colours and the ferry was my favourate bit
It’s definitely faster and more convenient to just get passengers to walk onto a ferry. At the Messina end there’s a terminal to do just that, Marittima station. Train ferries are monstrously inefficient, the 3.5 mile crossing takes a total of over two hours by official timetable. Add to that the risk of stranding rolling stock on one side or other of the gap and it’s an operational nightmare. Whatever the reason for continuing the ferry is, it definitely won’t be an operational one!
@@Paul_Lucas indeed, it's purely convenience for the passengers, which plays more of a role with overnight trains, I'd say. And perhaps to get trains regularly to a depot for maintenance. If you're travelling in the day, I'd change at Reggio di Calabria on to a ferry to Messina, they go about every half hour, cost a pittance, and according to friends, they are a lot more comfortable than the FS ferries from Villa San Giovanni.
But I agree, there's something about train ferries that just makes them extremely fun, I've taken the former train ferry to Denmark a number of times, it's great how they just drive on the boat, let you get upstairs for a bite in the cafeteria and some air on the deck... This trip has been on my bucket list for quite some time, now. I've taken a few Italian ICNottes, but they went to Puglia and Campania, not Calabria and Sicily.
I like ICNottes, they are convenient, relatively cheap and comfortable and they go everywhere in Italy. I like the Deluxe sleepers, but not in a trio. As a double, it's okay, but it's more crowded in a Deluxe trio than in a full couchette imo. I only miss catering, as you said, that 'breakfast' is hardly worth mentioning.
@@Paul_Lucas Maybe for a night train when passengers will be sleeping, but for day trains / seated passengers I fully agree with you!
@@barvdw Thank you. I took a train from Hamburg to Copenhagen some 20+ years ago and that included a ferry around half way. From what I can tell, this is still working. I confess I cannot remember what was involved in putting the trains on and taking them off of the ferry.
I think the ferrying of the train idea makes more sense when the crossing happens at night when most passengers are fast asleep in their cabin. If you're a heavy sleeper you could go to sleep on mainland Italy and wake up already in Sicily. Imagine trying to wake everyone up in the middle of the night, and having to make sure that no one is left behind.
The train ferry exists because Italy does things her own special way.
Italian modern day politics could even sink the Roman Empire. I love visiting Italy but it is obvious there is also North-South divide.
Not at all,try to build the longest bridge in the world in an highly seismic area with one of the most active vulcanoes in the world nearby,actually two if you add Stromboli vulcano that could cause a massive tsunami if it erupted in a massive way.
@@callisto3605 i like stromboli 😋
@@callisto3605 you are correct in saying that a bridge wouldnt be feasible in this area, but you could also just get off the train, get a passenger ferry to Sicily, and then board another train when you get there.
But I honestly think that train ferries add a bit of charm to trips
.....and with style
My Dad told me stories of the 'Italian boat train' more than 50 years ago, amazing to still see one of them still in operation. Another amazing trip, thank you.
€89 feels like an absolute bargain for single occupancy of a sleeper cabin combined with several hundred mils' transport, even counting the lack of on-board food sales.
Definitely one for the railway purist though! Flying Milan-Palermo takes about 90 minutes and is half the price...although much less fun.
@@Paul_Lucas Yeah - to me (and especially in the more scenic parts of Europe) flying seems like the travel equivalent of renting a film back in the days of VHS and playing it on fast-forward so you've watched it in ten minutes rather than two hours - great if your only aim is to get to the credits quickly :D
@@Paul_Lucas I like to think of it factoring in the cost of a nights lodging too. Sleepers become far better value in that train of thought
@@Paul_Lucas I am so glad you love italy but this cabin and our train system Is Almost ancient. Cabin from Roman Empire 😂
@@Paul_Lucas "...although much less fun." Definitely! Thank you very much for your very nice trip report to my hometown! The railway line along the coast line is wonderful! Best wishes and greetings!
Having done this trip, I can confirm that the arancini on board the ferry are famous and not to be missed.
The First thing when I went on sicily to my grandfather. Here in Italy we have so many Better Place to eat arancini😂
You are joking Arancini on the ferry are really bad.. every other place in Sicily will be better
Dude...It is as clean as street food in tanzania...wait till you disenbark trust me...
please, can u say "arancine"
@@waltergreen3691 arancine... a Messina semu no a Palermo!!!... arancine ci fa ridere
Trenitalia listened to you, Paul. Nowadays they offer extra water, a small breakfast (Italians don’t make much of breakfast anyway) and yes, after a delay we got a complete menu offer from the train personell. It was after the crossing of the Strait of Messina. Did this trip a few weeks ago (early June 2022)
When I went to Morocco with my mom we travelled around the entire country taking trains. Nothing quite like a relaxing train ride. Love traveling vicariously through your videos!
It Is Amazing. Same thing from tanger to rabat and Rabat-casablanca♥️
Arriving in Messina you can see the yellow ferry of the Telepass company. It can only be used by motorists equipped with a "telepass", which therefore allows direct access to the ferry as if it were a toll motorway!
Milano Centrale was like entering in an art museum. Truly spectacular!
Paul, excellent report. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The reason for the ferry turning is that it only goes in one direction. It's not a double-ender. Bow-thrusters at both ends but propellers only on one end.
"Plans for a bridge had yet to get off the ground"
What a good pun.
Knowing Italian bridges rather take the boat… or even the swim.
Yes, and then there was the one about when in Rome when he was actually on the ferry in the south of Italy, which only works as a pun when you are still in Italy.
The bridge is very difficult to desing, not because of the lenght (3,5km) but because the two coasts lay on 2 different tectonic plate with a fault in the middle of the sea... and Sicily moves about 3cm EVERY YEAR away from Italian mainland. Also strong eartquakes are expected in that area (like the one at the beginning of the 20th century). It's not like doing a bridge between Denmark and Sweden, nor, digging a tunnel from France to Britain: the sea here is over 200m deep.
Man I miss Italy, and Sicily. I got to spend 2 weeks there while waiting to get transferred to my career while I was in the USN, and Palermo was lovely.
I was USN at the Naval Hospital i while it was in Agnano/Napoli back in the 80s I traveled up and down the length of Italy on trains.. Ahhhhh the memories. There was no italian High Speed back then, and scioperi (strikes) could break out at any moment so I feel for his story about the failed train.
Italy is such a historical country! Amazing to think of all the dramatic events have occurred over the centuries in both Italy and Sicily!
The answer about the Ferry is, Tradition/bureaucracy! Still I'm sure it's a unique and quaint experience.
I wonder how they tie the train cars down in case of rough seas and also if the train ever has to wait out heavy seas before being loaded on or taken off.
Hey, I never took that ferry-train, but I'm Italian and it's not unusual that that the ferry rides get interrupted when the sea is too heavy.
now some politicians are pushing a bit on the project of building a bridge over the strait but the main opposition comes from ferry operators who basically are sustaining a lot of things both in Messina and Reggio Calabria (though the ferry actually leaves Villa San Giovanni) and they would lose their job because of that
Wow, an architecture viewing with history lesson, extended views of a beautiful coastline and countryside, as well as a trip review aboard a train AND a ferry, must be Paul Lucas at his best! Really loved this one Paul! Watching your travel adventures has been one of the activities that has helped me cope with this rotten year, many thanks.
Hello everybody from Sicily. Why to mantain direct trains from Sicily to the mainland it's obvious.
Efficiency and comfort of the service. This trains are often used with people with tons of luggage. Change the train is simply impossible. In Italy
(and Europe) right to mobility is very, very important, so the number of train lines is insane. Reduce the distances is a mandatory aim for the European Union, so the link beetween Sicily and mainland has been added as strategic, and inserted in the TEN-T corridor 1.
There is also an hydrofoil service between Messina and Villa San Giovanni syncronized with trains time, but this is another story. It is important to have several possibities to reach the mainland, with low fares. In italian this is called "continuità territoriale"
In reality, there is also a ferry line that connects Villa San Giovanni with Golfo Aranci Marittima (Sardinia), but it is used rarely and only for freight wagons or to send Diesel locomotives and railcars from Sardinia to the continent to be overhauled at some Trenitalia workshop. In the past, the FS ferries to Golfo Aranci Marittima set sail from Civitavecchia Marittima and also transported cars, trucks and passengers on foot.
Thanks to this video, which I watched last February, whiling away the time while I had covid. On the strength of it I made the trip and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Brings back very old memories of the old Dover rail ferry from Victoria to Paris.. bargain price and saves a nights hotel...
I remember catching the night train in 89 from Amsterdam to Copenhagen and waking up in the middle of the night on a boat, I'd slept through the shunting... bizzare experience as I got out of bed and wondered up to the deck a little bewilderd
Paul, kindest thanks for taking all of us home-bound Yanks on a beautiful south Italy train adventure. That Mediterranean blue is mesmerizing, just like I remember from the Dalmatian coast in Croatia.
And I love the travel details from your vids about the passenger amenities to enjoy courtesy of the airline or railway. Those details (sink operation, toothbrush, plug availability, the lot) really boost your work to a traveler audience. Those little details can make or break a trip, as you know, and including them is appreciated. *Very well done!*
Wow!, What a trip! A train ferry crossing!
Yes, your proposal makes more sense. Leave the train, hop on the ferry, take another train.
Aww seeing my family village on RUclips during this pandemic is not something I expected to happen! I made that sleeper train travel from Milan to Patti and back so many times in my life, I live in Milan but I also have a home down below the sanctuary you can see at 30:18, which is the Tyndaris sanctuary. It was nice to see it from your perspective, even because I've switched to plane travel a few years ago when it got easier to get to my village. And also because that was my grandad's final trip a few months ago, before having to go to a hospital in Milan and being infected there, never recovering.
To the very few people who see this, I hope you have a great next year :)
Hello from 2021. I’m 6 days in, and I have to say it’s not what I hoped it would be.
Greetings from Italy and thank you. Happy new year....I hope
You too buddy !
And to everyone reading this as well !
I took the Malmö-Berlin sleeper train with my father back in 2008. It was a really cool experience to sleep on a train, which is on a ferry. and if you want you can just walk out and explore the ferry! But i do remember it as a much simpler procedure than this. Great video as always!
Good narration bro.
Before the activation of the long tunnel under the "Peloritani" mountain chain, the heaviest trains, including the legendary "Treno del Sole" from Turin Porta Nuova to Palermo, from Messina were pushed at the end with a "releasable link in race". Other routes along which passenger and freight trains were pushed in the queue with a "link that can be released while running" were those between Nocera Superiore and Cava dei Tirreni as well as between Agropoli and Vallo della Lucania, in both directions.
Absolutely beautiful video the scenery was spectacular definitely on my bucket list for sure thank you Paul
Thanks Margaret! Glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you for this presentation. You take care.
Hi, I live in Messina, I can tell you a bit of context about why a lot of people got off the train at Villa San Giovanni, before the ferry journey
If you live in Messina is a lot, quicker, 1 hour minimum, to get off at Villa and take a quick transit boat, or auto ferry, to Messina then to wait the train to split off at Villa, reassembly in Messina Marittima and arrival in Messina Centrale
Also, for the same reason, a lot of traveller bound to Siracusa or Palermo prefers to take the quick transit, and then a regional train from Messina Centrale ( 200m from quick transit arrival port in Messina ) to their destination
Also about your question "why does this exists"
Nowadays you are right, and a lot of sleepers or intercity trains now DON"T cross the strait. 10/20 years ago the number was way, way high. Today the service is still in place for a small number of trains, the majority of north-south trains starts now from Reggio Calabria, the next station after villa, and the end of the line for the South Tirrenian Raiway.
There was a lot of rumours of a complete switch off of rail crossing of the strait from politician, but we Sicilian want the service to still exist, because it can provide a service for people who could have a lot of problem in get off or get in the trains ( A lot of luggages, elderly or disable people etc... ). This way someone can take the train at their local station, and get off at their destination, without inconveniences
If you have other curiosities please ask!
Bonus Topic! I live near the train roundabout shown on the video, and the Old Railway bridge on the old route from Messina to Villafranca is one of the few Infrastractures that predates the 1908 Earthquake in Messina! What a masterpiece of late 800' engineering
nice to see you taking precautions when travelling during this Pandemic
In times of the pandemic, looking at these videos makes me feel like I am on holiday. Thanks Paul.
Always love the train journeys, Paul. You get such great footage and they seem more intimate and relaxed than the plane trips. It feels like we are really along with you for the ride for part of your trip.
Wow! Milan Centrale station is awesome and its a city I would love to see in the future. Great video again Paul!
Then you must see Napoli Centrale, Napoli Afragola, Napoli Mergellina and Napoli Campi Flegrei, instead of that copied shit.
@@francescobelletta Napoli merda
@@francescobelletta persino qui i napoletani, santo iddio
@@bender3568 E quindi?
some old san francisco trams were given by the city of milan
Non lo sapevo. Cmq in confronto ad altri video le nostre cabine fanno alquanto pena
Paul,
Who knows how long this train ferry will be operating, but all these delays and maneuvers just add to the fun of this trip across possibly the most beautiful country
in the western world.
Even the hitchhiker delay added to the video.!
Isn't it the unpredictable moments that you remember the most?
Thank you Paul,
This video was a winner!
Cheers,
Rik Spector
Thanks for coming to Italy and making this video, Grazie tante, FORZA 🇮🇹
On the night ferry right now hope I get to video tape the shunting of the train onto the Ferry I'm so excited to see this!!
complimenti bellissimo video delle Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.
Paul Lucas produces I think the best rail videos on u Tube, thanks for another one paul
89 euro ain’t bad at all! That is an amazing price.
As long as you are not in a hurry and don't expect the train to arrive on time. The Italians do have very fast and reliable trains, but you have to pay serious money to use them.
@@michael-paulsprake6228 And getting drunk listening to The Pogues.
@@Dave_Sisson you mean like we do in france with the tgv !! lol
@@Dave_Sisson well it strongly depends on how early you book. I once took a single from Turin to Naples for 19eu. So there are deals to be had.
That looks like quite an ordeal! I'm glad you were upbeat about it.
Awesome Video, hope you have a nice sunday! :-)
Thank you!
@@Paul_Lucas Your videos are great for keeping my mind off of Covid 19 i just stumbled on your channel a few years ago and been watching ever since
Around 15 years ago I worked for a time in Baku, Azerbaijan, living in a flat with panoramic views over the port and could watch freight trains being loaded onto a ferry to cross the Caspian to Turkmenistan.
Milan Centrale does remind me a lot of Union Station in D.C., although the latter totally loses it once you get to the actual gates, when the place suddenly shifts from the grand hall and shopping to what looks like a bus station.
In May 1978 my wife & I got the night train from London to Paris. I think it went Dover to Calais or maybe Dunkerque. We wandered around the boat and were amazed to see that there was a train on the boat. We hadn't realised they did that. Apparently the first class passengers could stay in bed for the whole night that way. Of course that service has long gone.
Correct. The service was called the ‘Night Ferry’ and ceased operation in 1980. There’s a 1976 children’s film of the same name set onboard that very train.
Great viewing on a Sunday evening. I'd love to do a trip like this
spent many an hr on a cruise ship watching them loading and unloading trains in messina, when you have been there several times its more interesting that doing the trips, messina nice to wander round to
Amazing! I am from Calabria but I live in Milan and I often use this train to come back to my hometown, Paola. I could see a little part of its waterfront in your video!
I have found your videos, most interesting, full of perfect commentary. Very knowledgeable. Real professional work with excellent editing, camera and sound quality. Above all, wonderful oratory skills, keep us glued till the end. Keep walking.
Bananas wrapped in plastic lol. If only bananas had some sort of protective covering already on them...
Yeah, pretty sure there's EU laws on their way to prohibit that kind of nonsense.
There we go
www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20190321IPR32111/parliament-seals-ban-on-throwaway-plastics-by-2021
I'm surprised the plastic didn't make the bananas overripe. They must have specifically designed the packaging to have sufficient ventilation...🤦♂️
Yes Chris, I agree, they come ready wrapped It makes me amazed and annoyed when I see people in the supermarket putting bananas in the plastic bags on the fruit aisle. Non-biodegradable plastic bags!
the thing is... it's not plastic :') All food in Italy must be packaged in ecological or edible wraps
Thanks for letting us travel with you. I really enjoyed the trip.
This is one of the best videos I've seen from you this year. Brilliant! Really enjoyed this trip Paul. Would love to see more trips like this 😀
Hello. Congratulations excellent video and excellent photo description of the trip. I'm Italian from Milan, passionate like you about train travel, especially towards Sicily. Thank you for sharing your beautiful journey. Good continuation.
Ah how i miss the train ferries here in Denmark 🥲
Damn Oresundsbron! :P
What a lovely bit of the world - everything has a patina to it.
Great Job, your videography really gives a feeling of being there and actually "seeing" all around your locations. Good vid eye Paul, congrats.
Incredibly informative and relaxing video. The opening window in the room is such a simple but welcome feature.
26:03 I believe the actual reason for the ferry's reversal was in plain view there - there are no tracks on the ramp at that end. :-)
I remember the Night Ferry service from Victoria to Gare du Nord which got on the ferry from Dover to Dunkirk.
I think I have done this travel 7.800 Times in my Life. Ahahahahah. I miss my Blue Cristal Sea. Nice video and greetings from Italy folks
Please Please Please do a video on the Kit and stuff you bring on your trips!! What camera equipment would you need?, Your General Set Ups in flight etc and even what power banks or adapters you use as they have to be good quality!
Another fab video Paul! Great to be reminded just how beautiful Italy is on this very wet day, what a fun journey!
a realy nice journey, i did it in reverse in fall 2019. Can not recomend enough.
Hiya. Thanks, Paul. Have just spent a pleasant half hour being reminded/daydreaming of my own travels in Italy, many moons ago. Also, mainly by train. Dammit! Lol, now I SO want to go back. Stay safe. All the best to you.
Andy when were your travels in Italy>? I was stationed in Naples 1987-1991, and ended up going AL OVER the damn place Even took trains from Lecce in the heel all the way to Trieste!
Loved this. The closest I may get to ever going with things as they are. Merry Christmas to all and hang in!
Will be riding this amazing train to Taormina in July I am super excited!!! This is a excellent and detailed video thank you Paul!!
Big Thanks from me in Sydney...great travel vlog .
I took a train from Milano (a very hot and humid city), changing at Napoli, and although the train carried Palermo signs I wanted Bari to get to Corfu so never repeated the journey to get to Palermo, oh well,. The trains then were quite old and fortunately the windows could be opened competely for fresh air! This was back in, oh about 1973.
We did this with our two kids in 2019 on a 3 week interrail - specifically using the overnight sleeper (Rome to Catania) to get as far south as we could. On the night crossing there is no issue getting off the train (most people did). We had two adjacent cabins so we could open the adjoining door to the kids. Also look out for the "Excelsior" standard cabins - which can be a real fiddle to book but have private bathrooms (we didn't manage it but Mr Seat61 was very helpful on this....). As for the bridge - there have been plans for 40+ years - I suspect strongly that "through trains" continuing is a political fudge to keep the South onboad.
Never saw train in ferry. Thanks for sharing the unique experience
Train with comfortable rooms very nice beautiful
Great journey Paul. Thanks for sharing those wonderful Italian landscapes. Love it!
Great.... lovely to see another video from you , Paul 🙂
And your commentary is fantastic.
I love the fact you included the trams 🧡
Thank you for posting this. There is always something special about trains. After viewing your video on the Indian Express in Australia, my wife and I have decided that will be on our bucket list of places to visit after covid. Thanks again and stay safe.
I had a ferry like that in the northern part of Germany between the island Fehrman and Rodbyhavn on the way to Copenhagen in Denmark. Takes a lot of time to split up the train and to re-connect it. But it is fun to see how it is done. Nice video, Paul.
The train did not split up, the ferries on Rødby Puttgarden was especially made to fit 2 IC3 trainsets so the train just drove on and off.
@@erik_griswold Of course they had, and likewise on the Storebælt crossing. But the new ferries introduced i the 90'ies was made to fit 2 IC3 trainsets
Thats also the reason why they only had one ICE TD set on board because they could not fit more Into it.
The reason being that 2 IC3 trainsets was 6 wagons, but 2 ICE TD trainsets was 8 wagons long.
Much more interesting than air travel reports. Lovely scenery. Well done.
I love the sleeper train videos ❤
So do I 😍
This was a very interesting and enjoyable video to watch. And it brought back memories of 1982. Back then, I had a Go-as-you-please Ferrovie Dello Stato de Italiane rover ticket. On one part of the journey from Brindisi to Sicily, I had to change trains at Taranto in the middle of the night. But once on board, the train continued around the "foot" of the Italian mainland until it terminated at Reggio Calabria. I boarded the ferry and watched as it sailed to Messina not long after daybreak. It was a lovely experience.
About two weeks later, I boarded a train from Palermo to Roma Termini. It was a night train, but I did not have the comfort of a bed nor couchette. Instead, I leaned out of the cabin window to witness the splitting of the train into three sections as it shunted back and forth onto the ferry. On that sailing, nobody alighted, but I have learned much by the experience as the train pulled into the Rome terminus about lunchtime on the following day.
I have wondered why no bridge had ever being built across the Messina Strait. One reason is that that area is an earthquake zone (with Mt Etna not far away.) Another reason was that the Mafia would have wanted to get involved with the construction, much to the distaste of the Government. And so, now more modernised, the ferry service continues...
Yet another reason to adore Italy. Great train experience and great value. Good choice Paul.
Brilliant video Paul. What a wonderful journey 🙏. The added bonus of the Milan 🚃 trams was a great touch too. 🚂❤️😊
10:25 yes that door is usable in booking you can select, however good video
Paul - My wife's and my journeys have been put on hold by covid. So I've been watching your videos. It's been very pleasant to watch indeed.
What a long beautiful journey 😍👍🏻
This is a must-do trip! And definitely take the Milan sleeper so you see the coast in all the sunshine.
@@Paul_Lucas it’s definitely on my bucket list 😊👌🏻 thanks
I think you added some good philter to makes Milano Centrale shine that much lol. I'm from Milan and even to me it looked gorgeous.
Interesting vid. Merry Christmas and the best for the New Year.
Excellent video! 6 tremely helpful when you add commentary. Your video so become the best travel videos on RUclips. All of the information that a traveller needs. Keep up the great work!
Lol I was born in Salerno and yet you have taken this train more times than me :D
Ciao Signore Salernitano from an adopted Napolitano
Another great train journey with Paul. Thanks for this unique video.
Awesome video as always! As an Italian I love to travel with InterCity Notte trains, even though I think there is room for improvement in terms of what these services offer
Thanks for the review! I'll taking the ICN from Bologna to Catania leaving around 10 p.m. mid October. Really looking forward to the iconic crossing by ferry. Will be my southern most place reached by train.
looks like it might be a dual purpose ferry, it has ramps on both ends to handle vehicles as well as trains, but they swapped ends on your trip because according to the tracks in the deck, the trains can only load from the one end.
Just came across this video & enjoyed it very much. Thank you Paul.
Great video Paul, as always
Wow loved this video. Never knew that 'ferry train boats' existed. Love this video, I'm gonna watch all of them to see what surprises & info is instore. Thanks.
Paul, you should come to Portugal next summer and take the train up through the Douro River. It's called "Comboio Histórico do Douro". It's a steam train, the only one in Portugal, it's historic and the views are amazing once you go all the way from Porto to the border with Spain, passing the famous Oporto Vineyards. Definitely have a look on that. Cheers!
This was such a great video!! I' ve been meaning to go to sicily by train for ages and this film has inspired me to actually go! Thank you!
When you were messing with the door I started laughing because it reminded me of the movie Silver Streak with Gene Wilder. It's an awesome movie if you have never seen it
This video feels like a travel TV show, well done
What a great video and journey! Actually I had to take this kind of sleeper, from Palermo to Rome (and then Intercity to Bologna where I live) so I had to see the ferry transit during the night, where passengers were still allowed into the decks, sadly without bar service but still a great experience, I am planning to do it again this summer but with the ferry journey during daylight. Anyway, restaurant service has been canceled from Intercity trains (both on day and night services) since the implementation of high speed trains, trying to promote those more than slower Intercity services, that became less used by passengers, and the number of these sleeper trains has been reduced a lot also because of low cost airline carriers, who took lot of users of this trains. Anyway, I heard that this kind of service will be kept, because Fondazione FS (a no-profit company of the Gruppo FS, wich also Trenitalia is part), which is the company that cares and manages heritage trains, services and museums, is noticing that this train ferry is becoming a tourist attraction for more and more international tourists. That's great, Fondazione FS has actually saw many and many videos like this! So thank you for your amazing video! If you are a rail enthusiast you should definitely get a look to their website: www.fondazionefs.it/content/fondazionefs/en.html
Did this last year, on the sleeper from Rome and back to Naples via the day train, which was great seeing the shunting and ferry crossing in daylight. Great experience ....
13:20 Often this train makes very high delays, once I happened to travel on this train and arrive with 150 minutes of delay, a few weeks ago a train from Syracuse/ Palermo to Milan has done more than six hours of delay
It aint Italy if the trains run on time (and/or there's a surprise Sciopero [strike] in the middle)
Never happened to me, i take that train twice a year and it would normally reach Palermo about 15, even 20 mins early sometimes. I'm quite stunned in learning, both from this video and this comment, that it can actually get that bad, i've never experienced that