The last winter run of the Rome-Cortina train of FS Treni Turistici Italiani, a newly formed company of the Italian FS Group and part of its Passenger Hub, was a great success.
On 23 February, TTI’s train made its last departure for this season, from the Roma Termini station to reach the Alpine town that will host the upcoming Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
“FS Treni Turistici Italiani is the first Italian company dedicated to tourist transportation,” said CEO Luigi Francesco Cantamessa. “We want to reintroduce the traditional railway with glassed-in carriages for people to admire the view, sleeping cars and restaurant cars where they can taste the food and wine specialties of the area.” Hence, let’s make way for new proposals to repeat the winter success in the coming seasons. “We shall think of the South with overnight trips that will take us to wonderful places like Gallipoli and Ragusa Ibla. Indeed, there will also be daytime trains in the future. We do not offer cargo transport services. Instead, we organise travel, which is quite another matter.”
TTI is ready to explore the new form of tourism that True Italian Experience has been successfully promoting in recent years. This travel hub – Trenitalia is its business partner – offers tailor-made experiences for tourists from around the world. A new way of sustainable travel.
Luigi Francesco Cantamessa, CEO Treni Turistici Italiani said: “The idea of this train linking Rome with the Ampezzo Valley was conceived while browsing an old railroad timetable that ceased in 2011 with the last Rome-Calalzo di Cadore run. We took the carriages that had been decommissioned over time and revisited them in a new key with these made-in-Italy furnishings. We adopted the typical Italian taste with an entirely new approach. With the Cadore Express, your mountain vacation begins directly when you board the train.
We have redesigned the Cadore Express with a new concept as part of the important partnership that links the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics to the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiano Group.
That is why we wanted to link Rome and Cortina already three years before the event. We thought of it as a unique proposal envisaging the Rome-Cortina connection by coach and train with on-board services. It must be said that travellers had resorted to the car or coach, with some direct connections. However it was nothing like the pleasure of dining with tables laid out with fabric tablecloths, and lying down at night, listening to the rolling wheels of the train. We have provided travellers with a means of transport to travel from Rome to Cortina, along with 12 hours of a wonderful experience.
This train is the epitome of sustainability. You see, a small life cycle of the traveller unfolds from the time of departure from Rome until the arrival in the morning, considering breakfast, dinner, overnight stay, using the bathroom, and personal care. Picture 220 people jammed into SUVs or large cars on the Alemagna highway. Or imagine 220 people taking a low-cost flight to get from Rome to Venice in the evening. And then buses with limited seating capacity making their way along the state highway. So it is quickly said, 220 people travelling by train consume a negligible amount of CO2, compared to an SUV or the other means of transport I described.“
