The ''Adriatico'' was an

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than local trains that stop at most or all of the stations alo ...

operated by

Ferrovie dello Stato Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

, linking

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and Bari. It was named for the

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...

, ''Mare Adriatico'' in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

, as the train's route served the main cities along the shore of the Adriatic between

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

and Bari.

Trans Europ Express

TEE Colosseum arriving at Milano Centrale in 1985

In 1969, the

decided to replace their TEE diesel multiple unit trainsets with locomotive-hauled trains after the German and French examples. Because domestic TEE were allowed since 1965 (TEEs having previously been limited to international services), the order for the ''Gran Conforto'' coaches was enlarged, not only to replace the trainsets used on the existing international TEEs but also to convert the high-end domestic services to TEE. After delivery of the international coaches in 1972, two consists of eight and nine coaches each were available in the spring of 1973, and on 3 June 1973 the ''Adriatico'' became the first Italian domestic TEE. Initially, the service took 8 hr 35 min from Milan to Bari, thus reaching an average speed of 101 km/h. The service slowed year after year and in 1982 it took 9hr 25min from Milan to Bari. La Légende des TEE p. 333. In 1984, the rolling stock from the discontinued TEE ''Mediolanum'' was reallocated to the ''Adriatico'', allowing the ''Adriatico'' to be operated with coaches in TEE colours thenceforth.

InterCity

On 31 May 1987, the ''Adriatico'' was converted to a two-class

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

service. On 10 June 2001, the northern terminus was changed from Milan to

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

, and from 11 December 2005 the southern terminus was moved 149 km farther south, to Lecce.

References

Works cited

* * {{Trans Europ Express trains Named passenger trains of Italy Trans Europ Express Railway services introduced in 1973