The Italian state railway is now running an overnight train direct from Rome to the Italian winter sports resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo.

The new Espresso Cadore overnight train to Cortina d’Ampezzo left Roma Termini station. Is operated by FS Treni Turistici Italiani, which is a new company within the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group. It will run between Rome and Cortina d’Ampezzo every weekend until 15 February 2024, with extra services over the Christmas period.

The train will leave from Roma Termini station every Friday evening and arrive at Calalzo on Saturday morning, from where a bus will take passengers right into the heart of Cortina d’Ampezzo. The return train leaves from Calalzo – Pieve di Cadore – Cortina station on Sunday evening and arrives Roma Termini station on Monday morning.

At the launch of the inaugural service were: Luigi Ferraris, CEO of FS Group; Giancarlo Giorgetti, Italian Minister of Economy and Finance; Daniela Santanchè, Italian Minister of Tourism; Luigi Corradi, CEO of Trenitalia; Luigi Cantamessa, CEO of FS Treni Turistici Italiani; and Alessandro Vannini Scatoli, President of FS Treni Turistici Italiani.

Luigi Ferraris, CEO of FS Group, said: “For us, it marks the start of a whole new adventure with Treni Turistici Italiani. This company was established recently with the aim of allowing people to discover all the beauty our country has to offer with slow tourism – in other words, by using trains that allow us to drink in the landscape at a gentle, peaceful pace.

Luigi Cantamessa, CEO of FS Treni Turistici Italiani, commented: “This train, with all its carriages, represents the latest in fine Italian workmanship: solid, well-designed carriages that are built to last. We have completely rearranged them, as if refurbishing the interiors of a family hotel. And so the Espresso Cadore was born: a train made up of sleeper and couchette cars, a dining car, and the return of the baggage car of yesteryear, where you can stow large items such as tents, canoes, electric bikes – in fact, more or less anything.

“This is not merely a nostalgic indulgence: this is a train crafted around the idea of being a tourist. Tomorrow morning at 8 am, we will reach the end of the line: Calalzo di Cadore, from which the railway once continued on to Cortina; however, as of 1963, the so-called ‘dead branches’ policy saw the train service to Cortina discontinued.

“We have attempted to recreate it by using buses which will pull into our station, pick up passengers and, in just 45 minutes, whisk them away into the centre of Cortina. A traveller stepping aboard tonight will find themselves in the Ampezzo Valley at 9 am tomorrow. This is the first connection, an express train: hence the Italian name and the company colour, which is blue, just like our sea, our sky, our national team.

“Many thanks to the Minister of Tourism, who has always held the cause of rail tourism dear to her heart, and I believe that with everyone’s help, in ten years, the Treno Azzurro will have a firm place alongside the Frecciarossa in the collective imagination of the Italian people. The Treno Azzurro will have different features because here, for the first time, the holiday starts the moment the train pulls out of the station.”

Daniela Santanché, Italian Minister of Tourism, added: “I believe that this is an excellent opportunity and a huge leap forward for both national and international tourism, but this is only the very first Treno Azzurro so far. We are committed to increase train coverage because without travel and without transportation, tourism simply cannot have a future. So congratulations and best of luck – I will certainly be a frequent traveller on this train.

Giancarlo Giorgetti, Italian Minister of Economy and Finance, said: “This train was created in part to be enjoyed in itself, to somehow reward travellers for choosing the slow tourism option, which unquestionably brings us back to a gentler pace, a bygone lifestyle that we sorely miss.”