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If you're someone who like me enjoys just sitting watching some fantastic Italian countryside go speeding past the window, then this video is for you. A bit of a more audacious product of mine but I'm quite happy with the finished product.
Today, we take a ride on the Florence - Rome High Speed line, a 180 mile railway opened partially in 1977 and fully in 1992 to connect the Italian capital with the major regional centre. The line was built for the specific purpose of cutting journey times between the two cities as the amount of time taken to travel on the existing Rome - Florence line was in excess of 3 hours and still is. Today, it took my Eurostar Italia Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) set an hour and ten minutes to cover 180 miles of stunning Italian landscape, boring its way through the hills and mountains that had forced the original route to wind its way repeatedly down an available valley, as seen in the film.
Today's journey is done aboard one of Trenitalia's ETR 500 Class trainsets that were built in 2000 to replace the original ETR 500 sets that had been built in 1992 to coincide with the opening of the route. Running up to 11-cars in length the Frecciarossa sets travel at a speed of 211 mph and are fitted with all the contemporary luxuries that a modern High Speed Train should have, including 8 essential first class carriages and 3 standards.
Departing Roma Termini station located in the heart of the ancient Roman Capital the line takes the suburban routes up through the northern city until it reaches Settebagni, there the old Rome - Florence line diverges and the High Speed line opens up.
Enjoy!
