The SUPER SCENIC Railway that no-one knows about!

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Hello and welcome back to Italy for a super scenic mountain railway trip today!
We'll be travelling from Pescara to Rome today on a Regionale Veloce service, crossing the width of central Italy from east to west and climbing from sea level to nearly 1000m (3300ft), and back down to sea level again... so let's go and check it out together!
Date of Filming: 10/9/21
Camera: GoPro Hero 7 Black
Operator: Trenitalia
Departure: Pescara, Italy
Arrival: Rome, Italy
Cost: €15.45 (£13.19, $16.67)
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00:00 - Intro
00:56 - Walk to Station
01:22 - Station Tour
02:24 - Train Info
03:00 - Route Info
03:25 - Boarding
04:02 - Departure from Pescara Centrale
04:30 - Pricing & Journey Details
05:30 - Seat Tour
06:44 - Toilet Review
07:50 - Some Amazing Scenery!
08:38 - Calling at Sulmona
08:56 - More Breathtaking Mountains
09:52 - The Summit @ 3300ft
10:30 - Route Upgrade
10:55 - Descending to Rome
11:50 - Trip Summary
12:30 - Arriving in Roma Termini
13:10 - Outro

[@NonstopEurotrip]

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[@Fan652w]

Regarding your question on Europe's 'lesser known mountain railways', most of the lines in the Alps are of course extremely well known. But there is one line in Eastern Austria which seems to escape the attention of non-German speaking tourists. It is the narrow gauge line from Sankt Polten to Mariazell. This a highly scenic alpine line, even though Sankt. Polten is only fifty miles west of Vienna.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@ivanxy996]

Murtalbahn also in Austria

[@Luigi-uj5ml]

The Rome-Sulmona section was the site, in 1927, of the experimental activation of three-phase traction at 10,000 V and an industrial frequency of 45 Hz (in those years the alternating current of the network in Central Italy was at a frequency of 45 Hz, while in Northern Italy it was already at 50 Hz); the line was chosen because it was characterized by steep gradients (up to 31 per thousand), with a length of 172 km and with 20 km of tunnels. On 28 October 1928 the section from Roma Prenestina to Tivoli was electrified and on 23 March 1929 the section up to Sulmona. Following the damage done during the Second World War by the fleeing Nazis (the line was right in the line of fire between the Nazi-Fascists and the Allied army) the railway was semi-destroyed and in practice the industrial frequency three-phase electrification was damaged beyond repair. During the reconstruction of the line, the State Railways opted for direct current at 3,000 V and all the locomotives that had survived the war damage were scrapped.

[@moritzl7065]

Fun fact about 10:56, Italy has lots of train stations with absurdly long names. They mostly exist in rural areas where there's a station that wants to serve mutliple towns. To be able to appear in search results and also pretend like they're actually "serving" a town (when in reality they aren't really) they just put like three town names into one station name lol. Examples: Terme Euganee-Abano-Montegrotto near Padova Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino in Liguria (despite Portofino being 4km away) Patti-San Piero Patti in Sicily (the town of S.Piero Patti is 16km away on top of a mountain without public transit lol) etc.

[@brunotorrini9228]

OULX-Cesana-Claviere-Sestriere

[@NonstopEurotrip]

That's a great point, Spain does the same too 😂

[@Frank__19]

San Benedetto Val di Sambro - Castiglione dei Pepoli

[@SeverityOne]

That single-pylon cable stayed bridge at 4:58 is absolutely stunning. One of the most elegant and beautiful I've ever seen.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Isn't it just 🤩

[@TL98]

thanks for appreciating the flaiano brige

[@leonardheiden]

One reason for such a low ridership, covid apart, is that most people travel by bus between Rome and Abruzzo, as coaches are way quicker and more frequent. Rome to Pescara, for instance, takes as little as 2h15, at similar prices

[@rezaalan3991]

Bit curious, is there any tunnel or maybe viaduct which making road trip between two cities faster than rail trip?

[@leonardheiden]

@@rezaalan3991 Motorways A24 and A25 follow the same route and are full of tunnels and viaducts (you can clearly see them in the video), while the railway is winding, single-track and has low speed limits (mostly below 95 km/h, vs. 130 km/h on the motorway)

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Yes, exactly

[@igorsiuda8108]

There's a Sazava Pacific railway in Czechia, served by S8 and S80, latter with railbuses only.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Great info!

[@charlo90952]

You could include a map from open railway map. This line has a lot of loops.

[@470danadidas]

Please do more videos of lesser known lines in Italy. I've often wondered what this railway is like, having driven along the A25 motorway a few times which is roughly along the same route and a stunning drive through the mountains. ..Some stunning shots of the motorway viaducts. There's also a lesser known line through the mountains from Fidenza to Livorno which I'd be very interested if you featured it. All those old locomotive hauled 'regionale veloce ' trains have since been replaced with brand new Hitachi emus. Great video as always.

[@LucaPasini2]

I think the Ancona-Orte-(Rome) line is possibly even more scenic at times, for example in the sections between Castelplanio and Fabriano and between Spoleto and Terni, where it slowly funnels into an extremely narrow gorge. The rolling stock normally used is the same as in this video, but services are a little more frequent. I use it regularly to commute between my hometown in Romagna and Rome, it's one hour slower than taking the high-speed via Bologna, but usually much cheaper.

[@FSantoro91]

Another very spectacular route is the one from Sulmona and Isernia, also known as the "Italian Trans-Siberian." The line was closed to regular traffic in 2011, but remains active for heritage and tourist services.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thank you!!!

[@FSantoro91]

@NonstopEurotrip be sure to pay them a visit, someday. They are very special people, and they organize a pair of trains or two almost every weekend!

[@jadreskipina5899]

Cudos for not butchering foreign words unlike many KZbinrs ☺️

[@NonstopEurotrip]

I try, but I usually don't succeed 😂

[@jadreskipina5899]

Trust me, you’re great! I’m a language teacher, and I’m appalled how native English speakers butcher every language except French. 😁 Keep up the excellent job!

[@martinc.720]

Those comments always make me curious: How's that person Japanese? Tagalog? Farsi? They probably never make mistakes, which amazes me. You're right, it's truly appaling that people don't speak every single language.

[@b43xoit]

Kudos.

[@UnnormaI]

Another lesser known Mountain railway is the one in Oberweisbach Germany. It consists of a cable car and a regular small line at the top with unique rolling stock. I wholeheartly recommend a visit if you happen to be in Thuringia.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thank you!

[@northeastern_steamie]

Your videos are simply simple, which makes them more decent and lovely❤

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thank you so much 😀

[@neurofrank9967]

A lovely trip! I once took the line from Ancona to Perugia a bit further to the North. It was nice although somewhat less spectacular.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Very nice!

[@frankdominicbenke6146]

My mother came from Pescara so we would visit very often from the UK. I've travelled on the Rome-Pescara line many time since the 60's and saw the old station in Pescara which was a tiny compared to the current modern. The journey in those days took up to six hours but there was a first class and it was usually very busy before the motorway was built and took away a lot of the passengers. I suppose that is why they are constantly upgrading the service to compete.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thanks for sharing!

[@dw620]

Ah... this was a lovely relaxing, scenic little trip. Sadly I missed this when travelling up and down each coast in Italy. Too many places to go back and check out: maybe some day... : ) Thanks!

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@johnmehaffey9953]

Another nice one to add to my bucket list, dearie me you’re giving me a lot to pack in on my travels, i was thinking about doing a video diary but when comparing my feeble efforts compared to yours I’ll give it a miss 😊

[@NonstopEurotrip]

You better hurry up and do some of these trips John lol

[@maxart3392]

What a lovely coincidence: I was about to ask you to review one of the lines between Rome and the Adriatic and here it is! You should also review Rome - Ancona and possibly also Florence (or Pontassieve) - Cesena (if I'm not mistaken, the passenger service has been recently reestablished on this one), while I'm afraid that Pistoia - Bologna (via Porretta) is no longer in use. Among other secondary lined in Italy, the reviews of Florence - Siena, Siena - Chiusi and Siena - Grossetto would also be appreciated, but maybe I'm asking too much.

[@LucaPasini2]

The Florence-Faenza (not Cesena) is indeed active, despite the damages from the flooding occurred last May, and is peculiar as it's not electrified. From Borgo San Lorenzo to Florence it's possible to take a more direct route via Vaglia and Fiesole or a more indirect one via Pontassieve. The Bologna-Porretta-Pistoia is also still in use, however you always have to change train in Porretta. It's a really scenic line, especially in Tuscany, and has a really interesting history and really peculiar infrastructure, being the first ever railway line crossing the Apennines. The Ancona-Orte-Rome is another really scenic line crossing the Apennines, with some stunning sections. It has more services and ridership compared to the Pescara-Rome, which has suffered from heavy underinvestment for decades and is really underused.

[@anthonywalsh2164]

+1 for the Ancona - Rome trip. Very picturesque and some fascinating stops along the way .

[@maxart3392]

Sorry, mixed up Cesena and Faenza.@@LucaPasini2

[@NonstopEurotrip]

You're welcome lol... I'll try and do some more if I get time!

[@stijnVDA1994]

I discovered something neat: the old dutch volkertrains v100 train actually is still being stored by the ns. Perhaps you could get a ride on them with some kind of herritage ride possibly since there are still three in running order, then more are still existing as training trains for emergency services

[@czechmatebro]

One railway line that is also very scenic and less known about is "Posázavský Pacifik" in the Czech Republic. It's near Prague, served by the S8 line. If you decide to take that train, I advice you to do it in the double decker coaches. Those have a few fully openable windows towards the end if the carriages. There are also more tourist trains in the summer, but they're not as good as the normal double decker coaches I'd say. Great video as always 👍

[@NonstopEurotrip]

On my to do list 😄

[@app2bs]

This channel offers great value subscription.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thank you my friend 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@the_oreo_whale]

Have you ever thought of travelling on one of Trenitalia’s Stadler built BTR trains? It’s route starts from Torino Porta Nuova and ends at Aosta, from what i’ve seen the route is pretty scenic, and the train itself is a pleasure to travel on! (Note that the route is temporarily cut short at Ivrea for maintenance to the railway lines)

[@Fufu8881]

The line from Ivrea up to Aosta is actually in process of being electrified, and will be closed until early 2026 (at least).

[@the_oreo_whale]

@@Fufu8881 yeah i had only heard that the line was cut short from station announcements, i did imagine it would be closed for a long time tho, because they did not give an end date for it

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thanks for the info!

[@avirupsome]

The scenery is breathtaking indeed.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

😍😍😍

[@adnanvictor1601]

❤❤❤❤ in Love with your videos and your hardwork which you put in these videos keep it up brother 👌🏻

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thanks dude 😎

[@Fan652w]

Thank you for a very interesting video of a route I had seen on the map and in the European Rail Timetable (table 624), but otherwise knew almost nothing about, though I guessed it would be very scenic! This looks line a good train ride to take in winter, before the weather becomes uncomfortably hot!

[@NonstopEurotrip]

That's a great idea 🙂

[@kevinellis8869]

Good to see the excellent seat/window alignment.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Yes indeed!

[@sandrawhite9458]

We recently went to Innsbruck and took the short train ride to Seefeld on the strength of your video. It was spectacular! I look forward every week to your videos.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

That's awesome! I'm glad you enjoyed it 😁

[@luke211286]

Just fresh from a 3-week holiday in Italy. Save from a road accident which required me to get some stitches on my face, it was a fun trip overall which enabled me to explore ancient Greek ruins in Sicily all the way north to the medieval architecture in Bologna. I've taken a couple regional trains when travelling within Sicily. The ones I have rode is slightly different on the interior as there was some open spaces which passengers utilize for big luggages. Maybe next time I'd try this one as well. You have videos of Umbria?

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Excellent sounds like you have a great trip 😁

[@intersezioni]

the old regional trains you see in the video have been replaced with new regional trains throughout Italy. This type of train with a locomotive and separate carriages is disappearing

[@theobrattinga500]

Great video !!

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thanks!

[@EXP-925]

Amazing video with lots of informations and nice train! i had to travel with regional trains for a long time and those types of MDVC carriages are not bad at all for regional service

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thank you very much!

[@JohnnyHooverTravels]

Great video - I love these lesser known scenic rides 👍

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Glad you enjoyed John 😁

[@freesourcandy]

The locomotive at 4:33 the legendary E656 "Caimano" , now that you called it trash, you are going to make many train lovers angry!

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thrash, not trash.

[@danielebongrazio2267]

Beatiful video! I'm from Pescara and I travelled on this line many times and I can't stress enough how stunning it is, even if it is clearly not up to modern standards (remember it takes 2h30 by bus)

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Couldn't agree more!

[@whitesinjonlovealso7138]

Really appreciate it 😊😊

[@NonstopEurotrip]

My pleasure 😊

[@giambe_x]

Nooo you missed the 160 meters waterfall in Tivoli Roviano station is so cool and the railway is amazing in that area with some cool bridges.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

😭😭😭

[@itsmetaran]

Amazing line for sure! Thanks for the ride.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@UditMehta101]

Fantastic video

[@Checo-qo9uj]

I sure think this is old, the locomotive that appeared in a siding in Pescara is an old FS E656 'Caimano' articulated electric locomotive built in the 70s, they are now getting retired

[@Checo-qo9uj]

Also at Sulmona you could see Parkes behind a barrier an old diesel locomotive with an historical train

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Beautiful locos 😍

[@thomas-xj1hs]

many thanks; really enjoyable

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thank you too!

[@Abnerbandanovotempoinscrito1mi]

Boa viagem ai trem bonito trem bom dia

[@solotraveller848]

Amazing Video 😍🤩

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thanks 🤗

[@solotraveller848]

@@NonstopEurotrip My Pleasure

[@asmaps]

Check out the German Schwarzwaldbahn for a scenic mountain railway.

[@SteveLego]

If you want to experience a very less known railway in the south if Italy, I’m very open to show you and your collague Tibault a mix of mountain and seaside railway in Puglia and another mountain railway in Marche.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thanks for the offer 🙂

[@squyzz2381]

Once again thx for your great videos. Could you tell us which camera and mounting kit you're using ?

[@NonstopEurotrip]

This was my old hero 7, no mount

[@bohbohbohwut]

Love your videos, your voice is very calming and polite, I would love to see your face sometimes, to match it with your voice!

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Maybe one day! 😆

[@rezaalan3991]

Great trip. Bit curious, is between these two cities also connected by High Speed Trains?

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Not yet!

[@gab_v250]

6:27 well, in reality in other RV services there *is* a First Class service: but it only adds fixed tables for each seat, and it costs upwards to 1,5 times more than second class, so I don't think it's much worth it. 10:17 yeah, exactly. It will improve rail links between Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Believe it or not, currently the better links are up in the north, the lines to Genova and the twin Bologna-Firenze (classic and HS) lines. The others (La Spezia-Parma, Firenze-Faenza, Roma-Ancona, Roma-Pescara, Napoli-Foggia) are bottle necks for transport, given how governments didn't care much about upgrading the lines that are still to this day almost like they were made in the second half of 19th century. Hopefully there's the Napoli-Foggia upgrade, and the planned Roma-Pescara and Roma-Ancona double track upgrades. All in all, as a frequent RV user, I consider your review pretty much honest. Good job! Edit: your trip was on the "classic" R/RV composition (E464 + regional coaches, built in the 80s and refurbished at least a couple of times. The single-cab E464 and the control cars were made to enable push-pull operation, pretty much essential for regional transport); one of the few regions that still retains it. Now Trenitalia is refurbishing its entire fleet, and ordering new EMUs (Alstom Pop, for regional trains; this type of train will be used in Denmark, Netherlands and Romania as a Intercity high speed service lol) (Hitachi Rail's double deck Rock and bimode/trimode Blues) to replace these older trains.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Thanks for the lovely comment ☺️

[@TL98]

there's a plan to convert this railway to high speed which is already in setup phase

[@NonstopEurotrip]

As mentioned

[@merridybenton7028]

Have you taken a train to Zhangjiajie in China (the area was inspiration for the Avatar movie)?

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Not yet!

[@lahipster3172]

Will monthly euro train pass work ? Slow train no fast train ? Good information on rail update for faster train travel #Italy #Rome #Travel

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Yes!

[@lahipster3172]

#SouthAmerica fast trains #Uruguaybeaches to #BuenosAires

[@NonstopEurotrip]

One day 🤓

[@agimternova9299]

The highly scenic alpine railroad line in Europe r two: 1) Zurich - Chur - St. Moritz (Bernina Express). 2) Andermatt - Brig - Zermatt - Chur - St. Moritz (Glacier Express). Period! ✍✍✍

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Done them both, obviously!

[@jeroenvaningen2928]

Which app did you use to measure the height?

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Just a free GPS altimeter one

[@bazoo513]

8:14 - Is that a contraption to refill steam engines with water ?!?

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Or the toilets lol

[@bazoo513]

@@NonstopEurotrip Well, maybe - why not reuse already existing infrastructure.

[@user-cw9qn1nb2n]

The driver probably knows about it.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Hopefully!

[@b43xoit]

Why a duck?

[@NonstopEurotrip]

?

[@b43xoit]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXmwo3-mea2LmZI&pp=ygUYd2h5IGEgZHVjayBtYXJ4IGJyb3RoZXJz

[@antoniodemunari3335]

I hate these carriages, thankfully they are being replaced by new trainsets in my region in italy.

[@lorenzo_contini_7]

New trainsets that while accessible, are less comfortable and with no luggage space at all, with worse air conditioning too....

[@LucaPasini2]

I'm also a fan of these MDVE carriages: even if they're quite old and noisy there's plenty of space if the train is not crowded, you always have access to a window, the floor is flat and the seats are far more confortable than the newer Rock EMUs. However the latter are much better than the Vivalto, which were really terrible by all means.

[@cestmoi1262]

Maybe I missed it but I falied to see another passenger on that train and then you comment that this line will be dual track and Hi-speed. This looks like taking coal to Newcastle and likewise I see neither common sense or logic in it unless there is something you aren't saying.

[@gab_v250]

probably it's because if you build a new more direct route between Rome and Pescara, you could incentivize public transport (and thus less cars in the highways and less traffic in cities).

[@cestmoi1262]

@@gab_v250 Sounds to me like: we'll just produce electric cars and everybody will buy one. The facts: guess again.

[@lorenzopassero8509]

​​@@cestmoi1262This line is deserted because for starters it doesn't even pass through the biggest town/small city in the Abruzzo Apennines, L'Aquila, and it's just too slow to be of any use. Locals take coaches instead that use the two motorways connecting Rome to the Adriatic in 2h15mins, which are much more direct thanks to extensive tunnelling and use of viaducts, which you can see in the video. If it takes you 3 hours to reach Rome, you just take the bus instead

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Hopefully it will become more used when the journey time nearly halves

[@GrimsbyRail]

How boring ! Other much better railway channels focus on trains in Pakistan or the new Chinese train in Czechia. I will switch to them.

[@NonstopEurotrip]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/nGbaeGObipiBg5Y Btw I was with Superalbs in Pakistan and my first video from there will be coming soon. As we travel a lot together, we agreed that he would do one first this time.

[@paulo929refael2]

Since you’re in Italy, why not the trenino that leaves from Arezzo into the mountains of Tuscany? ⛰️There are two of them, one north to Stia and one south to Sinalunga. They are very cute and would make a great video!

[@LucaPasini2]

They are really nice lines but both are in fact standard gauge, but operated by a region-owned company instead of Trenitalia. The operator until recently used to have some really old rolling and interesting stock, but they've recently introduced some EMUs of the same models used by Trenitalia.

[@paulo929refael2]

@@LucaPasini2 thanks for your reply, I’ve edited the original comment accordingly. Yes they are operated by TFT (Trasporto Ferroviario Toscano) which (I remember) always meant a mad scramble for tickets during a seven-minute corrispondenza with trenino waiting on the track! 🚂 Happy journeys amidst the fresh mountain air of the Casentino ⛰️

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Great suggestion!