European Railroad Discussion > Trip to Italy, Part 6: Cinque Terra and back to Milan

Spent a day exploring Levanto and the Cinque Terra region on the Mediterranean coast.

1. Train arriving at Levanto
2. Train station at Riomaggiore
3. P.A. Announcements included an alert to stand back for "through trains", such as this one, which came through at speed

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4. A meet at Corniglia; the town is on a hill above the track level
5. Track layout at Corniglia station
6. I missed getting a pic of a southbound freight: an engine and two tank cars came through at speed. But I was able to get a pic of this northbound stack train, which also came through at speed. As with the express passenger trains, there was a P.A. announcement alerting people to stand back of the yellow line.

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7. Another view of the stack train at Corniglia, passing the MoW equipment. The freight trains I saw were about 30 cars long, max, and all were traveling at speed.
8. The northbound local arrives at Corniglia. Note the former tunnel portals at upper left.
9. At Levanto, just north of Cinque Terra, the former right of way runs along the seashore; I think this is the former station. The former route is now a bike path; the current rail route is through the mountains and at a higher elevation.

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What about the old tunnel portals farther up the hill from the station? (Pictures 5 and 8)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/17 21:32 by joemagruder.

10. Genova (Genoa) station canopy under repair. There was a lot of trackwork along the Mediterranean coast line, with some train delays.
11. Unused freight tracks where nature is taking over
12. Saronno station, south of Milan. All stations had these large paper schedules posted, so one knew what track / platform to go to in advance of the train's arrival.

Overall, the Italian trains ran on or close to schedule, though there were delays now and then. Trains would sometimes stop "in the middle of nowhere", but then would proceed after a couple minutes. There were never any on board announcements about the train delays en route, though some of the stations ran apologetic messages over the PA system.

There were frequent posted and PA announced warnings about pickpockets, but we did not encounter any. It helped that we were there after the peak season, and did not ride any jam-packed trains (though some had heavy passenger loads). We saw a few homeless people near Milan Centrale station, and the occasional beggar in Venice, but we had no major hassles.

The trains blew their whistles to depart stations and sometimes to warn people on the platforms. The meter gauge train near Bolzano rang its bell a couple of times at crossings, but otherwise all crossings were "quiet", especially on the main lines. The grade crossings we saw were for streets that had no more than one lane each way; I don't recall any crossings over multi-lane roads. Freight trains were somewhat frequent on the line between Bolzano and Verona, but I didn't see that many elsewhere. There were plenty of trucks-and trailers on the main highways / autostrada. Overall, a fun adventure with plenty of trains.

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Fascinating area. Thanks for posting. I'd like to use your image of the train approaching the station on a superelevated curve to show engineering students an example of the limits to superelevating --train weight on the lower rail when a train stops.

At one Cinque Terre station, we had an odd experience. I think it was Riomaggiore but I'm not sure. Anyway, when the train stopped, our car was still in the tunnel. It really didn't look like we were at a station, though there was a narrow platform. People hesitated, and before we knew it, the train was moving. Then we popped out of the tunnel and everyone saw their mistake. The train didn't stop again for a few stations, but they did let us ride back for free on the next southbound.

Sure appreciate your taking the time to post this great series of photo's.

For folks not able to travel, funds or medical, its just great.

Ed

joemagruder Wrote:
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> What about the old tunnel portals farther up the
> hill from the station? (Pictures 5 and 8)

I just thought they were an interesting feature.
That would have been one heckuva relocation when the current track grade/alignment was built.

mundo Wrote:
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> Sure appreciate your taking the time to post this
> great series of photo's.
>
> For folks not able to travel, funds or medical,
> its just great.
>
> Ed

Sure thing. Italy (and other parts of Europe) generally require a lot of walking and stair climbing.
Some of the larger stations have elevators, but they are small and rather slow.
Italian train boarding was similar to the US, where one climbed stairs in a vestibule, though the platforms were slightly elevated. No step stools.
Not the easiest thing to do while schlepping bags, but we got it done.

casco17 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> mundo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sure appreciate your taking the time to post
> this
> > great series of photo's.
> >
> > For folks not able to travel, funds or medical,
> > its just great.
> >
> > Ed
>
> Sure thing. Italy (and other parts of Europe)
> generally require a lot of walking and stair
> climbing.
> Some of the larger stations have elevators, but
> they are small and rather slow.
> Italian train boarding was similar to the US,
> where one climbed stairs in a vestibule, though
> the platforms were slightly elevated. No step
> stools.
> Not the easiest thing to do while schlepping bags,
> but we got it done.


It is very striking when travelling in Western Europe that the differences between here and the United States are very great, and that Americans are clearly visible when present. In particular, they do tend to carry huge quantities of baggage, which of course may be appropriate when far from home, but for which most trains are certainly not equipped.

While it is true that many stations had extensive staircases, it is also the case on the continent that in the last 20 years safety and disability considerations have resulted in a huge increase in both provision of lifts and ramps, and the total abolition of the practice of walking across the tracks from one platform to another. In the UK, of course, this never happened because of the universal use of high platforms. Nowadays even small wayside stations in Italy have either lifts or at the very least a ramp for use by the elderly and those with much luggage. For this at least some of us are increasingly grateful!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/17 22:51 by spflow.

We must have been there at the same time!

Thanks for the great photos.

symph1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At one Cinque Terre station, we had an odd
> experience. I think it was Riomaggiore but I'm not
> sure. Anyway, when the train stopped, our car was
> still in the tunnel. It really didn't look like we
> were at a station, though there was a narrow
> platform. People hesitated, and before we knew it,
> the train was moving. Then we popped out of the
> tunnel and everyone saw their mistake. The train
> didn't stop again for a few stations, but they did
> let us ride back for free on the next southbound.


Same thing happened to us at Riomaggiore. Is this our stop? Do we get out in the tunnel? Took the next train back as well and rode a car at the front of the train..
Cam

An Intercity train runs non-stop through Santa Margherita Ligure.

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camshawn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> symph1 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > At one Cinque Terre station, we had an odd
> > experience. I think it was Riomaggiore but I'm
> not
> > sure. Anyway, when the train stopped, our car
> was
> > still in the tunnel. It really didn't look like
> we
> > were at a station, though there was a narrow
> > platform. People hesitated, and before we knew
> it,
> > the train was moving. Then we popped out of the
> > tunnel and everyone saw their mistake. The
> train
> > didn't stop again for a few stations, but they
> did
> > let us ride back for free on the next
> southbound.
>
>
> Same thing happened to us at Riomaggiore. Is this
> our stop? Do we get out in the tunnel? Took the
> next train back as well and rode a car at the
> front of the train..
> Cam


Likewise! Admittedly the plaform tunnels are quite well lit, but the station signage is rather erratic