European Railroad Discussion > Trani and Barletta

Trani and Barletta are two attractive small cities on the Adriatic coast of Italy, to the north of Bari.

There's plenty of rail activity on the Ferrovia Adriatica, the mainline which hugs the Adriatic from Rimini to Bari.

We stayed a couple of nights in Trani, spending an afternoon in Barletta. Both cities have beautiful Romanesque cathedrals dating back to the 12th century and some splendid restaurants. Here are some of the trains I saw.

1: A 35 year old Trenitalia e652 Bo-Bo-Bo on steel coil, which I think may have come from the steelworks at Taranto.
2: All Trenitalia regional services on the Ferrovia Adriatica are in the hands of these Alstom built ETR104 POP trainsets. They have built in chargers for your electric bike.
3: Early the following morning I was back at the station. A Bari-bound ETR104 is leaving Trani as an e652 heads North on empty single-decker vehicle carriers.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/24 10:06 by 86235.

---

---

---

4: GTS is an Italian logistics company with a large terminal in Bari. When I heard the automatic "non-stopping train approaching" (tren transito) announcement I guessed it might be a freight. It thundered through at 120 kph behind GTS Rail 483.057, a Bombardier TRAXX.
5: At 07:30 ICN757 20:50 Torino Porta Nuova to Lecce (arr 10:10) behind a Trenitalia e464 (the train was tailed by another e464).
6: At Barletta at lunchtime a Ferrovia Adriatico-Sangritana class 483 on a long train of vans southbound for Bari.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/09/24 10:05 by 86235.

---

---

---

Interesting trains. Sad they have the graffiti problem too. Thanks for sharing.

Very interesting.  Especially the freight operation.  One question though.  In a few of the pictures the rails seem to be painted white for a stretch, any idea why?

Roadbed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In a few of the pictures the rails seem to be painted white
> for a stretch, any idea why?

According to an answer I got to the same question it's to reflect the heat from the sun to prevent rail distortion.

Interesting.  I suppose that makes sense.  Curious if they have concerns about obscuring cracks or defects with that paint.

Roadbed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Interesting.  I suppose that makes sense. 
> Curious if they have concerns about obscuring
> cracks or defects with that paint.

I remember first visiting Italy 30+ years ago and wondering about the white paint everywhere. Did seem strange.

---