The ''Vesuvio'' 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 ...

in Italy, 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

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. The train was named after

Mount Vesuvius Mount Vesuvius ( ; it, Vesuvio ; nap, 'O Vesuvio , also or ; la, Vesuvius , also , or ) is a somma-stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of ...

the

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the Crust (geology), crust of a Planet#Planetary-mass objects, planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Ear ...

near Naples.

History

The history of this train dates back as far as the 1930s, when Italy completed its first two high-speed lines, the ''Diretissima'', one between Bologna and Florence and the other between Rome and Naples. High speed at that time meant 175 km/h and a new electric multiple unit, the Elettro Treno Rapido 200 (ETR 200), was developed with help of Turin University between 1934 and 1936. The ETR 200 was built by Breda in 1936 and entered service between Bologna and Naples in 1937, using the new lines and calling at Florence and Rome.

Rapido

After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the service was resumed and named ''Freccia del Vesuvio'' (Vesuvian arrow) in the fifties. The ETR 200 stock was re-fitted to ETR 220/230/240 in the beginning of the 1960s provided with a fourth coach. The 1960 Olympics brought the ETR 250 and the Vesuvio was operated with ETR 220 and ETR 250 EMUs until the replacement by

TEE A tee is a stand used in sport to support and elevate a stationary ball prior to striking with a foot, club or bat. Tees are used extensively in golf, tee-ball, baseball, American football, and rugby. Etymology The word tee is derived from the ...

Vesuvio.

Trans Europ Express

In 1969, the

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 ...

decided to replace its

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) diesel multiple units with locomotive-hauled trains, after the German and French examples. Because domestic TEEs had been allowed since 1965, the order for the ''Gran Conforto'' coaches was expanded, not only to replace the existing international TEEs but also to convert the high-end domestic services to TEE. The ''Freccia del Vesuvio'' was upgraded to ''TEE Vesuvio'' as soon as the new rolling stock was available, on 30 September 1973. The ''TEE Vesuvio'' was operated with E444 locomotives hauling Gran Conforto coaches. Notably, the ''Vesuvio'' conveyed two dining cars from 26 May 1974 until 30 September 1979.

Intercity

In 1987, the ''Vesuvio'' was converted into 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 Das grosse TEE Buch p. 119 because it was not an international service and therefore couldn't qualify as EuroCity. The service continued as daily service until its replacement by the ''EuroStar Italia'' operated with ETR 500 electric multiple units using the 21st century high-speed lines.

References

Works cited

* * * {{Trans Europ Express trains Named passenger trains of Italy Trans Europ Express Railway services introduced in 1937