THE ''BEL PAESE'' Italy is certainly the most beautiful country in the world, from north to south there are breathtaking landscapes and cities full of art. Around the country there is no shortage of extraordinary and unique infrastructure, including of course the railways, and today I am here to suggest some routes that could be considered for bringing TSW players to the Bel Paese! GENERAL INFO Before starting with the suggested routes, I would like to list some general characteristics of the Italian railway network. In Italy there are 16,723 km of 1435 mm gauge railways, of which 11,921 km are electrified with 3 kV DC, while on the high-speed rail network electrification is 25 kV AC. The network is managed by RFI (Rete Ferroviaria Italiana), while the trains are operated by Trenitalia, on the high-speed rail network there is also the only private operator of high-speed trains in Europe, namely Italo. On the railway network the safety systems in use are SCMT, SSC and ERTMS/ETCS. Having said that, let's start with the presentation of the routes: GENOA-LA SPEZIA RAILWAY (or CINQUE TERRE RAILWAYS) Map of the line, it also includes the section for Pisa Regional trains in the station of Manarola in the Cinque Terre National Park The Genoa-La Spezia railway is 86 km long and connects the entire south Ligurian coast. It has double electrified tracks along its entire length and is famous for passing through the Cinque Terre National Park, which is recognised as a UNESCO site. The line is crossed by a large amount of regional traffic, both trains travelling in the urban area of Genoa and trains bringing tourists across the coast, as well as frequent freight traffic and high speed and Intercity trains from Rome. For its entire length the line runs alongside the beautiful Ligurian Sea. Rolling stocks in service on this line: -E464 locomotive with MD coaches (medium distances) or VivAlto double-deck coaches for regional services -E652/632/633 ''Tiger'' locomotive for freight services -E401 locomotive with Eurofima UIC-Z coaches and Z1 push-pull coaches for Intercity trains -ETR485/460 ''Pendolino'' for high-speed trains VENICE-PADUA RAILWAY ETR 500 near Padua ETR 600/610 on the Ponte della Libertà in the Venetian Lagoon The Venice-Padua railway is the final section of the 'Ferdinandea' railway, running from Milan to Venice. It is 37 km long and consists of four electrified tracks, on two of which freight and regional trains run, while high-speed trains run on the other two. The line starts from the Venezia Santa Lucia station in the centre of the city of Venice and reaches the mainland by crossing the Venetian lagoon on the famous Ponte della Libertà bridge. The line is crossed by many regional trains running between Venice and Padua, or regional trains to Verona, and has a high traffic of high speed trains from Milan and Turin, also many international trains run on the line. Rolling Stocks in service on this line: -ETR421/521/621 ''Rock'' or ALe 426 ''TAF'' on regional services -ETR 500 ''Frecciarossa'' or ETR 600/610 ''new Pendolino'' for high-speed services -E483 or E494 for freight services HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY NAPLES-SALERNO AGV 575 on the longest bridge of this line ETR 400.016 The Naples-Salerno high-speed railway line is 32 km long, double-tracked, runs under Mount Vesuvius, connects the cities of Salerno and Naples, and passes through the densely populated area of Naples. Although it is a high-speed line on which you can travel up to 250 km/h, it has the signalling of normal high-speed lines and is electrified with 3 kV DC. Not only high-speed trains run on the line, but also Intercity and regional trains. In addition, the new Naples Afragola station was recently built on the line. Rolling Stocks in service on the line: -ETR 400 and ETR 500 on Frecciarossa high-speed services -AGV 575 and ETR 675 for the high-speed services of the private operator Italo LINE FL1 FIUMICINO-FARA SABINA (Rome suburban services) The map of line and the map of the whole network ETR 425 ''Jazz'' in Leonardo Express livery ETR 521 ''Rock'' ALe 426 ''TAF'' near the Tiburtina Station (The second largest station of Rome) The FL1 line of Rome's suburban service is about 75 km long and crosses the whole city, starting from Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport (also known as Fiumicino) and ending in the town of Fara Sabina, just outside Rome, on the line to Florence. The line passes through all the main stations in the Italian capital, and also has a branch line to the Vatican. Mostly suburban trains run on the line, although near the freight yard of Roma Smistamento there are many goods trains arriving and departing to the north and south. There is also an express shuttle service between Fiumicino and Roma Termini stations, the Leonardo Express. Rolling Stocks in service on the line: -ETR421/521/621 ''Rock'' or ALe 426 ''TAF'' on suburban trains -E464 VivAlto double-deck coaches on suburban trains -ETR 425 ''Jazz'' for the Leonardo Express services Having finished with the route presentations, I would like to say that in Italy the rolling stock is identical for almost all lines, for example the E464 locomotive and the various carriages for regional trains run on all lines in Italy, but also Intercity and High Speed trains use the same rolling stock in every part of the country. Goods trains mostly use the E652/632/633 ''Tigre'' locomotives, but the new TRAXX E483 and E494 as well as the Vectron E193 are very popular. So for many routes I have not listed all trains for this simple reason. E464 (in this photo with Medium Distances coaches) E401 (in this photo with Eurofima UIC-Z coaches) ETR485 Pendolino (The ETR 470 and 460 are similar at this) ETR 600/610 ''The New Pendolino'' E652/632/633 ''Tiger'' The UIC-Z1 Push-pull coach VivAlto Double-Deck coaches Medium Distance coaches Signalling and security systems Signalling and safety systems are obviously important. As already mentioned, in Italy we use the SCMT (Sistema Controllo Marcia Treno) and the SSC (Sotto Supporto Condotta), the former is a real safety system like the PZB, while the latter is a support system for conducting, but is completely transparent to the driver. Obviously I won't explain all the signalling and safety systems here, because it would take pages and pages, but I attach here a site where it explains in detail how safety systems work, what the driver sees on the display, signalling, and everything related to safety and signalling systems in Italy, including regulations and more: https://www.segnalifs.it/
Really excellent suggestion and the first one should be Venice Padua Railway since it can give ETR610 layers on future routes that normally see service with one of those trains. Since it's the only Italian high-speed train to use PZB LZB Sifa 15kv 16.7hz. If you are wondering what are the sleeper trains on Venice Padua line they're Öbb Nightjet trains.
Thank you very much, in fact I put a lot of effort into writing this suggestion. However, I fully agree with you regarding the first route, in addition to the Nightjet there are also OBB's normal Eurocity trains, but there are also some special trains such as the VSOE on the Venice-Padua line, not to mention the fact that it is the only line in Italy where high speed trains run alongside regular trains.
Speaking of the Eurocity trains on Padua Venice Railway line those are ÖBB 1216 equipped with SCMT SSC ETCS in addition to the familiar PZB LZB Sifa.
[removed off topic statement - Protagonist] I would not buy Italian route. But if it is fast then I may
[removed off topic statement - Protagonist] Most European trains are high speed now in major long distance routes
[removed off topic statement - Protagonist] Trains such as the ETR 300, ETR 250 and ALe 601, built from the 1950s onwards, were already travelling at 200 km/h
Bring on Italy, it's a truly wonderful country, and a place I'd love to visit one day! And it would be brilliant for TSW as well! [removed off topic statement - Protagonist]
