The ''Adriatico'' was an

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes few or no stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, providing faster service than local trains that stop at many or all of the stations along their ...

operated by

Ferrovie dello Stato Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. (; ; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the initialism FS) is Italy's national state-owned enterprise, state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estate service ...

, linking

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

and

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

. It was named for the

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

, ''Mare Adriatico'' in

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

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

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

and

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 train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

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

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

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

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

References

Works cited

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