THE AMERICA ONE NEWS
Dec 11, 2024  |  
0
 | Remer,MN
Sponsor:  QWIKET.COM 
Sponsor:  QWIKET.COM 
Sponsor:  QWIKET.COM Sports News Monitor and AI Chat.
Sponsor:  QWIKET.COM Sports News Monitor and AI Chat.
back  
topic
The Telegraph
The Telegraph
16 Mar 2024
Nick Squires


Leaky roofs, a man selling fish and a bathtub on the tracks: all aboard Italy’s worst railway

It has recently been voted the worst train network in Italy, a creaking, leaking route that carries bewildered tourists and weary commuters between Naples and various towns around Mount Vesuvius.

Boasting a man selling fish, ancient stations, and breakdowns so bad that travellers are sometimes forced to get out and walk to the next station, the graffiti-covered Circumvesuviana is chaotic even by Napolitan standards, a city known for its lawlessness and lack of order.

Seasoned passengers know that when it rains, they need to unfurl their umbrellas inside to shield themselves from the water streaming through the roof of the carriages.

A passenger stays dry as the train creaks its way from Naples around the Bay of Naples towards the Amalfi Coast
A passenger stays dry as the train creaks its way from Naples around the Bay of Naples towards the Amalfi Coast Credit: Facebook
Another local passenger comes along for the ride
Another local comes along for the ride Credit: Facebook

Locals think nothing of wheeling onboard broken-down scooters that they need to take to the mechanic. Pigeons nonchalantly walk on and off the carriages, searching for crumbs, and the occasional rat causes panic.

The beleaguered train network, which has six lines covering more than 100 stations, is so dysfunctional and disaster prone that it has inspired a hugely popular Facebook page and a book.

Both are the creations of Giovanni Masturzo. He is a 40-year-old who has been using the network for the last two decades to commute from his home in Castellammare di Stabia to Sorrento, where he works in a chocolate factory.

His Facebook page has gained 200,000 followers since he set it up in 2015, prompting so much attention that he has written a book: Vesuviana State of Mind – a Semi-serious Guide to the Craziest Train in the World.

Among the weird and wonderful things he documents is a man who boards the train attempting to sell freshly caught fish from a plastic bag.

“He’s one of the characters of the Circumvesuviana,” Mr Masturzo told The Telegraph.

“He goes fishing in the morning and comes on board with a bag full of fish, dripping water all over the carriage. He asks passengers whether they want to buy any.”

Then there is the rogue octopus.

“Someone had obviously just caught it in the bay and they were taking it home to cook. But it managed to heroically escape. It squirmed around the carriage for a while until it was eventually recaptured.”

Some of the oddities have achieved cult status. At one station, there is an electronic sign that has not changed since 1995. “Test OK”, it says cryptically. Under “destination” it lists a non-existent station.

As the network services the coastal resort of Sorrento and Herculaneum and Pompeii, the Roman sites smothered in pumice and ash by Mount Vesuvius’ eruption over 2,000 years ago, it is frequently used by foreign tourists.

Circumvesuviana Cicciano train station
Circumvesuviana Cicciano train station Credit: Shutterstock

But they are often left confused by the experience.

“They ask us for the code to the wifi,” said Mr Masturzo, laughing. “But of course there is no wifi. Half the time we don’t even know if the train will arrive.

“Sometimes they break down between stations and passengers have to disembark and walk.”

The pitfalls of riding the train were highlighted this month when a locomotive hit a fridge that had been dumped on the tracks in Pompeii, the modern-day town that crowds up against the ancient archaeological site of the same name.

No passengers were hurt but the train was damaged. Just a few days earlier, a bathtub was left on the tracks in the same area.

'Delinquents, organised crime, group of youths- who targeted the Circumvesuviana?' Local news reports the unusual item left on the tracks...
'Delinquents, organised crime, group of youths- who targeted the Circumvesuviana?' Local news reports the unusual item left on the tracks... Credit: Facebook

Mr Masturzo says the Facebook page is “a way of transforming all the stress and frustration into something funny, light-hearted”.

“It helps people put up with all the hassle of a train that is often delayed and overcrowded, a bit of a jungle. It’s an emotional refuge, a way of defusing people’s anger,” he added.

“And it’s very Neapolitan – the ability to use humour as a form of coping with difficult circumstances. But it appeals to commuters all over Italy because they are going through similar experiences.”

Fellow commuter Dr Sophie Hay, a British archaeologist who has worked for many years at Pompeii, agrees that it does showcase “the real Naples”.

“I call it the tonka toy train. It’s true that it has its problems. It’s often overcrowded and in the summer the smell of sweat is pretty ripe. The app is rubbish and mainly doesn’t work,” she told The Telegraph.

“Having said all that, I like it. It’s gritty and you feel you are part of the landscape. The staff are always really nice, I have to say.”

First founded in 1885, the Circumvesuviana - which means “around Vesuvius” - was recently voted the worst train line in the whole of Italy by Legambiente, an environmental organisation.

Its dysfunctional state is down to years of bad management and a lack of investment, according to Mr Masturzo.

The president of the company that runs the train line admitted that it suffers from problems but said more money was being invested and more staff taken on.

A decade ago, the rail network was technically bankrupt with 750 million euros’ worth of debts and 40-year-old trains, said Umberto De Gregorio, the head of Ente Autonomo Volturno, which took on the running of the train lines in 2011.

“Today there are 57 new trains being built, new signalling is being built and there are investments in the network of more than a billion euros,” he told The Telegraph.

“There are problems, certainly. But we have launched efforts to transform the train line.”

Mr Masturzo’s Facebook page and book were “satirical, sometimes amusing. But the reality is very complex. The Circumvesuviana will have a new future. But patience is needed,” said Mr De Gregorio.

Mr Masturzo said he had noticed some changes.

“It’s getting better,” he said. “There’s a bit of hope.”