Crossing from Sicily to the Mainland by Train Ferry
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- Опубліковано 20 кві 2020
- AndyB crosses from Messina to Villa San Giovanni on one of the last 2 train ferries operating in Europe.
The InterCity train is formed of carriages from Palermo and Messina and is heading to Rome.
There are both InterCity and InterCityNight trains using the train ferry. Travelling on the daytime InterCity all passengers have to get off the train whereas if on the InterCityNight you stay onboard the train.
As always any questions or comments do add them.
Never seen anything like this before, amazing. I live in a land-locked state in the US and there's nothing like that anywhere near here. I'm reading a book and it discussed how trains would cross the Susquehanna River in Maryland. Totally blew my mind. I just assumed trains used bridges. I can see now a bridge wouldn't be sufficient to cross from the island of Sicily to the mainland. Just yet another reason to go to Italy! 🚂🛳️🇮🇹
There is so much to see in Italy travelling by train. If you use twitter check out my timeline @AndyBTravels was in Italy a couple of weeks ago and some great pictures on there!
Quite often trains are carried by ships and trains ferries across massive bodies of water there such a thing here with New York and New Jersey it's called car floats
There used to be so much of this kind of busy train ferrys all over Skadinavia . Very similar operations even at hourly intervals all day long . Some routes doing this twice for two bodys of water like the " Vogelfluglinie " . All gone now , bridges everywhere exept for some freight traffic . No passneger trains anymore .
Have you been in Italy yet, in these 3 years since you wrote this comment? We welcome you with open arms :)
I came to here to watch over and over again
This is a great help, thanks. Also, how the train personnel are in shirt & tie. So professional compared to US Amtrak employees that look like something the cat drug in.
Brilliant. I have got to travel on this !!
this was super helpful i'm going in may and had no idea how it worked i was so confused
The port has a V shap dock to immobilize the ship, also there is also a lifting bridge to level the rain on the ground whit the rail on the ferry.
@AndyBTravels thank you for this video, well shot and explained, cheers
One of my lockdown fantasies: Birmingham to Sicily and back by train. Thank you- always enjoy your posts!
Brum to Paradise.....
@@andybtravels2195 We’ve got our own Paradise here in Brum. 😷
I have a suggestion for anyone wishing to try the Messina strait experience. It is beautiful in every season and at every hour, but the top of the top is to take the night train from Rome that arrives at Villa San Giovanni before sunrise, so you have a night view of the strait; then during the trip sunlight arrives, and you dock at Messina with the daylight, and it is another amazing spectacle!
Wonderful! Well done!
Have you done the ride?
@@andybtravels2195 Yes! 50 years ago!
Hi, Andy,
great video of the one remaining train ferry in Europe.
Best regards,
Peter
Have you had a chance to take the train ferry?
@@andybtravels2195 Unfortunately not, but I hope it will be possible to use it next summer.
incredible
Wow quiero ir 🥰❤️
THX for this video - so cooool!!!!!
Have you done the journey?
@@andybtravels2195No, unfortunately, I just have seen this from the platform.
@@pistidzurek it is well worth a trip! Great fun and fascinating and now the last in Europe!
I cannot believe how did you managed to NOT SHOW how the ship attaches to the land, i just can't believe this
it is a very very smooth manouver, as the ship arrives into a V shaped dock that fits perfectly the ship. You don't feel any bump.
Last of its kind in Europe - on my list for this autumn post vaccination
It's a delight! One tip do consider taking the ferry from Palermo back to the Mainland - wonderful views!
@@andybtravels2195 Which route and operator did you use? Wondering about Genova...
@@colinpenfold1887 I actually did the Tunis to Palermo ferry with GNV the arrival to Sicily along the coast and into Palermo was sublime!
How did the ferry stabilized during loading/unloading? Wont be easy to get a firm footing for the tracks should the ferry rocking left and right due to the waves
There are no waves inside the dock, it is very protected. Anyway the ramp to get the train on the ship is very long, and it follows the ship as she gets heavier during the loading manouver
come si muovono i treni sulla nave senza linea elettrica aerea?
con batterie o hanno anche motori termici ?
In porto c è una locomotiva disel per fare le manovre
@@Lorre982 c'e' davvero "bisogno" del ponte ?
@@yallowrosa se vuoi velocizzare le percorrenze sì; tra i 35 minuti di traversata e le manovre di carico e scarico, passano quasi due ore dall'arrivo a Villa SG e la ripartenza da Messina (e viceversa).
la manovra viene effettuata con locomotive diesel, e ultimamente anche le locomotive elettriche adoperate hanno delle loro batterie con cui riescono a manovrare con il trolley abbassato
but, why can’t they manage with another set of train on the other side?
You mean "Why the passengers cannot simply get off from the train and take the ship to the other side?"? The answer is that in any case the railway company needs to move carriages and locomotives for commercial or technical reasons, so at that point it is more comfortable for passengers to stay on the train itself (except that during the sea trip they must go outside for safety reasons).
Not sure what was going on at the 8 minute mark with the train going off and on and off the ferry.
The whole train does not fit onto the ferry in one go, so they have to break it down into three or four parts. Hence the shunting of the train on and off the ferry.
Where do you leave your luggage on the day train? It is secure?
Yes, it is. You must leave the train carriages either during day or during night, for safety reasons. You bring with you your little belongings like a backbag or a purse, and leave on the train the heavy luggages. The carriages are locked so nobody can go inside, during the sea trip.
Why they dont build a bridge hence is so bear by?
It's an earthquake zone: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1908_Messina_earthquake
I’m in disagree with that man, I don’t think that a bridge will be more expensive than the ferry boat, there will be more and more trains and I don’t think that the water is so deep there because one time, thousands years ago, Sicily and Calabria were connected.
@@jordantyler3013 I think the setup comes into its own at night when you just stay on the train, in your sleeper cabin, in your jimjams.....
@@jordantyler3013Idk if the bridge is more expensive, but it costs tens of billions, it would require 1 span over 3km long, the longest ever built by mankind, in an earthquake and tsunami prone zone. Factor in that Rome and Northern Italy are reluctant cause the deep South is seen as a wasteland (despite its 7 mln inhabitants) and Sicilian mafia on one side and Calabrian 'ndrangheta on the other+ standard Italian corruption, and you have the reason. THE Bridge (for the Italians) hasn't been discussed for decades for nothing.
Making passengers go on and off trains and ferries is quite the effort for them. It'd surprise you (if American) to discover how much night trains and trains are used in Italy. The ferries also provide (in the past much more given today's widespread EMUs usage) a way to exchange rolling stock to Sicily, 5th most populous region hosting Italy's 5th (Palermo) and 10th (Catania) cities by population.
It's been Italy's main debate, electoral promise AND dream (for some) for decades.
The Strait's width would require solutions that have never been built before: a suspended bridge with a single span of 3 km would be the longest in the world, battling with strong winds and tectonic movement as it'd span between the Eurasian and African plate. Engineers ensure it wouldn't be a problem (thermodynamic dilation would be much more relevant, just to give you an idea) but the public opinion doesn't seem to get it.
The tunnel isn't feasible because the strait is too deep (being a fault zone) and its currents too strong.
Another considered option was an immersed tunnel, but if a longer suspended bridge that uses already tested structures is too much, why adopting a structure that's only theorical?
Anyway, also the seismic risk is very high, with it possibly causing a tsunami like that of 1908, that obliterated Messina and Reggio Calabria (thousands years old cities, respectively in Sicily and Calabria).
Human factors are the worst though.
Mafia presence is high, as Sicily's home to Cosa Nostra and Calabria to 'Ndrangheta, the most powerful in the world rn I think. Furthermore, you have to sum it to the risk of corruption that's "physiological" to any public work in Italy.
Politics argues over these themes, but there's also the North-South gap-related prejudice of some of thoss opposing it. They view the deep South as a distant wasteland where noone lives, irrelevant to the economy of the country (if not for brain drain towards the North), forgetting that Sicily has 5 mln inhabitants, with Palermo being the 5th and Catania the 10th Italian city, with both of their urban areas reaching 1 million residents.
Also, a part of the Italian public opinion shares these prejudices and plus is very distrustful of any infrastructural work in Italy after Genoa's bridge collapse(s) and multiple all over the country.
Plus, Sicily and Calabria have shitty roads, railways and infrsstructure in general, and because of this even locals are split equally between who favours the Bridge and who'd rather have them address pressing issues that have actually been going on since decades even.
So many people in hi-vis vests wandering around doing sod all...yet still earning a nice salary!!!
Wtf do you expect them to do while cars are actively moving ?! They secure them once they've stopped, but they're not going to to anything while they're *moving*