The Ionian Railway : Italy's last diesel InterCity (Taranto→Reggio Calabria C.le) 

The shelters you see in many stations are just the roofs of the underpasses. I suppose they build them that way because they are water and wind-proof.

18:58 every summer I go to Calabria above Monasterace (I'm from Calabria) and I've never had the opportunity to see this station from the inside and now that I've seen it I must say it's not bad

Finalmente dal 2024 useranno i modernissimi ed ecologici Blues per questo Intercity. Hanno gli interni moderni e usano tripla alimentazione infatti sulla parte con elettrificazione usano il pantografo dove non c'è il diesel e le batterie per arrivare in stazione o partire diminuendo rumore e emissioni che danno fastidio ai passeggeri . Grazie al Cielo 😊😊

14:56 yeah, that's one of the masts installed for OHLE. 15:12 it's a cover for the stairs and step-free underpassages. It's been a standard in most recent renovated stations. 17:57 that's because Italy has many cases of "sparse municipality" (comune sparso), where many small villages form up a municipality, and the various offices and town hall are sparsed in these villages. Lamezia Terme is probably one of the most known examples of "comune sparso". As of Catanzaro, there was once a main line that run near the city, but it was moved to make place for new infrastructures. The city is still served by the narrow gauge Catanzaro-Cosenza rack railway, which has its terminus in Catanzaro Lido (btw it's typical in Italy to have a city inside, and its marine counterpart on the seashore, hence the many "marina" and "lido") Also IIRC to cut expenses, Trenitalia closed the railway stations between Taranto and Sibari (except Metaponto) and replaced them with a bus service. Really odd choice, but I hope that there will be change of plans. 24:40 Melito di Porto Salvo is where double track and OHLE start again, because it's the terminus of the commuter rail network of Reggio Calabria that goes up all the way to Rosarno.

Love this intercity it's like the only train that travels near my city

Thank you very much for the video of this journey. Very informative and well thought out. We were considering making this exact trip but will likely explore other options.

To answer to 2:15 - yes, this is the last diesel locomotive hauled *intercity* service. But this loco still gets its fair share of use in Tuscany (on two railways) and in Sardinia (zero electrification here), as loco-hauled regional services, even if the tendency is to replace them with hybrid electric and diesel multiple units (Hitachi Rail's Blues). Also the railway between Taranto and Sibari is electrified, but since there is no dual mode locomotive here, and changing locos in Sibari can take some time, the train starts from Taranto already with the diesel loco. but yeah, this railway has almost always been neglected, with 40-50 year old rolling stock, deserted and abandoned stations, the rubbish on the tracks... But there could be some changes on the horizon, with the purchase of new hybrid electro-diesel multiple units, and the electrification of part of the Ionian line (at least from Sibari to Catanzaro Lido).

I nostri treni sono veramente dei carrarmato anno fatto storia d'italia...

The carriage in which you moved at 9:52 was probably more comfortable as, unlike the other 2, it has not been restructured according to the 901 project (the interiors of the other 2 carriages originally had compartments and another kind of air conditioning) and has maintained the Original interior which, in my humble opinion, was much more comfortable. However, the 2 renovated carriages at the beginning of the video were of the "eurofima" type, which entered service in 1978 and were built by FIAT, while the third was of the Z1 type which entered service in 1988. In any case, nice video and beautiful landscapes of the fantastic Ionian line

A most enjoyable sequence with excellent text commentary and some super pictures and sounds too - thanks for posting!

I'm glad you're back again! What have occurred for being so many months without videos? These views of the Ionian Sea from the train reminds me the Rodalies de Catalunya's (Catalonia Commuter Train Company, but owned by Renfe) R1 line through the Maresme coast

In Taranto there are bars inside and outside the station

Awesome. Those trains are still the best. Keep up the good work 🙂

Totally agree, great to see you're back. I think that long with no/poor A/C or catering is above and beyond the call of duty though. Looking forward to seeing more videos!

I live in Catanzaro, good to see my city ;)

No idea why I mentioned Barletta

I'm glad you're back too! And a pretty spectacular line, one that I've not personally done. Great job mate 👌🏻

Nice reportage. I subscribe on your channel.

Super

Very nice video, I took this route once 45 years ago in the opposite direction, but that was a night train, so no scenery available for me. As I remember there was no electrification whatsoever all the way to Bari and we were hauled by a very similar locomotive (just older generation). As I understand, now the line is electrified until Sibari and then again from Melito to RC. Moreover, the speeds seem to be decent for the line at the end of the world (must be around 120 km/h which is probably close to the top speed of the loco) Well, delays on a single track line are hardly avoidable as a slight delay of one train affects all the trains in both directions for several next hours. And in this case great "recupero" by FS. Just an (un)educated guess: the poor airconditioning is maybe also due to the combination of limited power of diesel loco and extreme temperatures (I remember many years ago trains hauled by similar locos on Florence - Siena line used to have a special heating car to heat the passenger cars in the winter). One thing I don't understand is why you mention (at 8.07) Barletta which lies on Adriatic coast of Puglia and has little or nothing to do with this line? And I miss a map of the route. Otherwise - as I said - great video.

Very exciting, not far from the End :( , livery is actually INTERCITY SUN.......

Yeah, I prefer old seats too. New seats are so unconfortable for long distance and they don't recline at all

Well that was a feat of endurance. Glad you took some supplies on board at least. What sort of proportion of the route is within sight of the sea?

You should also try the Frecciarossa from Taranto to Torino

7:59 Barletta? It’s on the Adriatic Sea…

These are not shelters but ramps for step-free access! :)

Did I miss the journey map?

Lungo la linea, una stazione dal nome ora sinistro: Cutro...

DEVO PRENDERLO PRIMA POSSIBILE

Comunque per andare da Taranto a Reggio Calabria senza prendere questo treno che attualmente è uno schifo totale si può prendere il treno da Taranto a Sibari e , poi regionale da Sibari a Cosenza o il Frecciarossa per Paola sempre da Sibari direttamente e da Cosenza il regionale per Regionale per Reggio Calabria o per Paola e da lì Intercity Regionale o Frecce per Reggio Calabria. Si inquina di meno e penso che si risparmi tempo. Ricordiamoci che se inquiniamo troppo potremmo fare finire la vita sulla Terra!!!