The ''Cycnus'' 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 ...

with

Ventimiglia Ventimiglia (; lij, label= Intemelio, Ventemiglia , lij, label= Genoese, Vintimiggia; french: Vintimille ; oc, label= Provençal, Ventemilha ) is a resort town in the province of Imperia, Liguria, northern Italy. It is located southwest of ...

, Italy. ''Cycnus'' literally means swan, but more likely the name refers to the mythological King of Liguria, the region the train served.

History

The ''Cycnus'' was introduced on 30 September 1973 in order to improve the first class-only

Trans Europ Express The Trans Europ Express, or Trans-Europe Express (TEE), was an international first-class railway service in western and central Europe that was founded in 1957 and ceased in 1995. At the height of its operations, in 1974, the TEE network compri ...

(TEE) service along the

Liguria it, Ligure , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

n coast. The schedule was designed as a "mirror" of the TEE ''Ligure'', resulting in a very early departure from the French-Italian border in Ventimiglia and returning from Milan just after midnight. While the ''Ligure'' had constant loading figures, the ''Cycnus'' ran almost empty at the beginning of the week, but had to be extended to 11 coaches on Fridays. Das grosse TEE Buch p. 119 Over time, passenger numbers on the ''Cycnus'' dropped and the extra coaches were scrapped from the winter of 1975/76. Eventually it the continued running a first class-only train appeared to be too much of a financial burden, and the ''Cycnus'' 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 29 May 1978. On 14 December 2003 the route was shortened to the Milan - Genoa portion.

References

Works cited

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

History

See also

References

Works cited