The Palatino Express or Rome Express is a historic express train operating between

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, since 1890. Under the name ''Rome Express'' the pre-war service operated daily until interrupted by the Second World War. The British film ''

Rome Express ''Rome Express'' is a 1932 British thriller film directed by Walter Forde and starring Esther Ralston and Conrad Veidt. Based on a story by Clifford Grey, with a screenplay by Sidney Gilliat, the film is a tale about a European express train ...

'' (1932) derived its title and its setting from the train. The service was resumed after the war, and has operated with the name ''Palatino Express'' since 1969.

Route

The original ''Rome Express'' route operated from Calais-Maritime, a coastal railway station providing a direct connection between cross-channel ferries from England and the French railway network, via Paris, Aix-les-Bains, Modane, Turin, Genoa, Pisa, and

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

to Rome. On 21 January 1893 the route was changed to run via Marseilles, Nice, San Remo and Genoa, instead of via Mont Cenis and Turin. In 1897 the route reverted to Mont Cenis. Following the name change to ''Palatino Express'' the service operated the same route, but without the Calais to Paris section. Travellers were still able to make the full journey, by using the '' Flèche d'Or'' express service from Calais-Maritime to Paris, until this service was withdrawn in 1972; and thereafter by using a regular service train from Calais-Maritime to Paris, until Calais-Maritime station was closed in the mid-1990s as a result of the opening of the Channel Tunnel. Even then, it remained possible to connect from the ferry port by bus to Calais's main railway station Calais-Ville and from there to take a service train to Paris.

History

The ''Rome Express'' was a service provided by the

Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits Newrest Wagons-Lits, formerly (lit. ''International Sleeping-Car Company''), also CIWL, Compagnie des Wagons-Lits, or just Wagons-Lits, is a division of particularly known for its on-train catering and sleeping car services, as well as being ...

. On 24 March 1936, three people were killed and 20 injured when the Rome Express was derailed just beyond Florence. On 18 October 1937, the train collided with a goods train at Arcola when it was diverted onto a siding in error. A

platelayer A platelayer (British English), fettler (British English – UK, Australia, NZ) or trackman (American English) is a railway employee who inspects and maintains the permanent way of a railway, usually under the charge of a foreman called (in UK ...

was killed and several passengers were injured. On 11 February 1940, five people were killed and 24 seriously injured when the Rome Express derailed near Pisa. The post-war resumption (from 1952) was a joint operation by the French and Italian national rail operators (who provided the locomotives and the train diagram) and the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits who provided the carriages and staff. The name was changed from ''Rome Express'' to ''Palatino Express'' in 1969. In 1971 the Wagons-Lit Company gave up operating its own coaches, although it continued to provide the staff and ancillary services (such as laundry) for sleeper coaches operated by the national rail companies. The various European rail operators formed a joint operation known as ''TEN'' (Trans Euro Night, or the equivalent translation in other languages, such as Trans Euro Nuit (French), Trans Euro Notte (Italian), Trans Euro Nacht (German), and so on). The ''Palatino Express'' was marketed as a ''TEN'' service from the 1970s through to 1995. On the formation of the Artesia railway company in 1995, the ''Palatino Express'' became one of the new venture's key routes. Artesia was a joint venture by SNCF and

Trenitalia Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government, the company was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail tra ...

. Artesia broke up in November 2011 owing to realignment of shared operating procedures between European rail companies. The ''Palatino Express'' became a victim of these changing circumstances, and was discontinued on 10 December 2011. The service was briefly revived from December 2012 but was once more withdrawn from 15 December 2013 due to infrastructure problems.

2012 revival

The train operator

Thello Trenitalia France is an open-access train operator running international services between France and Italy. It was originally established under the ''Thello'' brand in October 2011. On 11 December 2011, Thello ran its first night service, having ...

acquired the passenger coaches previously used on the ''Palatino Express'', and from 11 December 2011 used these vehicles to operate the daily sleeper service between Paris and

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 ...

, Italy. Early in 2012 Thello also indicated that they wished to resume a regular daily sleeper service between Paris and Rome from the end of that year. On 5 December 2012 Thello issued a press release stating that they were resuming the provision of the ''Palatino Express'' service. The company's statement said:

On 9 December 2012, the legendary Palatino Express train will rise from the ashes and once again connect Paris and Rome. The public was looking forward to the reintroduction of this train, subject of much comment on social media, that will restore the link between Paris, Florence and Rome, with intermediate stops at Dijon and Bologna.

The service was withdrawn in December 2013.

Breaks in service

The ''Rome Express'' did not operate during the Second World War, and was resumed in 1952. As the "Palatino Express" it had a second break in service from December 2011 to December 2012. Some commentators felt that standards of service declined in the years leading up to the December 2011 withdrawal of the service. As with other European routes originating in France, the development of SNCF's high speed rail network and

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

trains also reduced the demand for traditional overnight sleeper services. The breakup of the operating company Artesia on top of other factors, led to the demise of the service in December 2011, but continued interest from passengers and discussion on social media led to the short lived re-introduction of the train in 2012.

References

External links