ICN 1963 2010 Milan-1432 Catania

[wellhouse]

We have sleeper reservations on this service next month and I will appreciate feedback and advice from anyone with recent experience on the service from Milan to Sicily. In particular;

1. The train departs at 2010 but what time does boarding start?
2. I understand a bottle of water per passenger is provided and a light breakfast, but are any further hot/cold drinks or other refreshments available from the steward at any stage(s) of the journey?
3. Trenitalia suggest there is Minibar (Trolley) catering. Is this actually provided for any or all of the journey, and if so, what does it offer, and does it serve sleeping cars or just the seated coaches?
4. I have read reports of unofficial catering offers on the day trains to Sicily; do they ever appear on the Sleeper at all?
5. Is there any WiFi on the train or ferry?
6. I have double-checked with ItaliaRail and confirmed that we are in a sleeper in Carriage 2, but WagonWeb shows this as a Couchette Car; should I be concerned?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Feb 2024 ==

And....
7. I have never travelled on such a long sleeper service before in Europe'; is the water supply adequate throughout for toilets and washing, or is there a risk of it running out during the morning?

 

[Iskra]

The train is usually in the platform well before departure. How long before you are allowed on varies by how the staff are feeling that day and how organised they are.

They provide some water, snacks and light breakfast with hot drinks with breakfast.

I would not rely on any onboard catering for such a journey and it’s possible the trolley is just for the seated passengers.

There is a nice Bistrot in the main station building which does good quality hot meals for in and out and for supplies for your journey.

I’ve never had a Trenitalia sleeper with no water (yet).

 

[rvdborgt]

1. Not sure, maybe 30 minutes in advance or so.
2. The steward can brew coffee, but as a warning, I had the worst cappuccino ever on the night train from Palermo to Milan.
3. I can't remember having seen a trolley. The steward may sell some small snacks, but I think it's better to stock up before you board.
4. Haven't seen any of them. You will be able to buy something on the ferry.
5. AFAIK there isn't.
6. What accommodation type is mentioned on your reservation?
7. I haven't seen or heard about any problems with water supply.

 

[Iskra]

1. Not sure, maybe 30 minutes in advance or so.
2. The steward can brew coffee, but as a warning, I had the worst cappuccino ever on the night train from Palermo to Milan.
3. I can't remember having seen a trolley. The steward may sell some small snacks, but I think it's better to stock up before you board.
4. Haven't seen any of them. You will be able to buy something on the ferry.
5. AFAIK there isn't.
6. What accommodation type is mentioned on your reservation?
7. I haven't seen or heard about any problems with water supply.

The espresso is pretty decent though.

Pretty sure the trolley is just for the seated section and its offering is poor compared to a UK trolley.

 

[158801]

I travelled on the 2150 sleeper from Milan to Bari last year. The train arrived into the platform 20 minutes before departure.

Breakfast was a coffee, orange juice and a pastry. See picture. A "can" of water was provided. I'd buy a bottle (or two) from a local supermarket

 

[AlbertBeale]

When I did the Milan-Syracuse overnight trip a few years back (after a seamless London-Paris and Paris-Milan journey during the day), I had a pleasant meal on Milan station before boarding; I also stocked up on things to eat the following morning on the run down the coast to the ferry. (I've never had a substantial enough [for me] breakfast supplied on an Italian sleeper!) I will say though that the espresso I was given by the sleeping car attendant in the morning was magnificent - I actually enjoyed it, and I don't usually like espresso... A warning about the ferry crossing - although there's enough time (despite the short crossing) to nip up and get a snack on board, the time I did it the choice of available food was incredibly poor; so don't have high expectations.

One further warning. The little square as you exit the station has a bar to your left. I and my fellow traveller fancied a drink before heading into town - like, no doubt, thousands of arriving visitors before us. When I got the bill, I realised I'd been charged for the wrong items, and it was added up wrongly. Both errors very much in the bar's favour. My knowledge of Italian, and my mental arithmetic, were both perfectly adequate for the challenge, and so I went and had a little chat with the guy behind the bar. He started out being dismissive; but I persisted, and his demeanour quickly became embarrassed (hence reinforcing the idea that we weren't the first people to have been in that situation), and finally he scrabbled around in his till and sheepishly gave me a handful of change. As I went back out into the square, I quickly realised that in his haste he'd given me much too much change - but I thought I'd had enough arguing for the day...

 

[Tester]

I did Palermo - Milano by sleeper last year, and very enjoyable it was too.

I would reiterate the suggestions by other posters to be self contained for food and drink - very easy to do.

 

[Flying Snail]

Agree with all the advice above, always have enough food and water with you on long night trains, even those that should have a reasonable offering can have supply/failure/staff issues meaning no food service.

Also don't leave valuables in the train on the ferry crossing, there are persistent reports of stuff being nicked during the crossing.

 

[D6130]

A warning about the ferry crossing - although there's enough time (despite the short crossing) to nip up and get a snack on board, the time I did it the choice of available food was incredibly poor; so don't have high expectations.

In my experience, the only food - if any - available in the cafe on the ferry will be very poor quality - and almost tasteless - arancini (deep-fried, breadcrumb-coated rice balls with a sparse filling of either meat ragu or mozzarella & tomato). However don't let that deter you from buying arancini from cafes, shops and market stalls while you are in Sicily....they are the quintissential local street food and nearly always cheap and very tasty. In fact there is a specialised arancini restaurant opposite the park in Ragusa Ibla - run by a lovely young couple - with 69 different fillings....many of them vegetarian or vegan.

 

[wellhouse]

Having made the trip, I can now answer my own questions!

1. Boarding started about 20 minutes ahead, but there was a Police and Army block on the platform inspecting passports. The steward inspected only our reservations as we boarded, but checked our tickets and passports once we were under way.
2. We were provided with two bottles of water (one still, one sparkling) each shortly after departure, and the steward asked about any allergies regarding breakfast, which was served around Battipaglia.
3. Having been served our water, we were then given menus, but having stocked up, we didn't order anything. It's the first time I have ever encountered an offer of pet food on board; €2.00 for ether Dog or Cat Food, and €4.00 for a collapsible bowl! We also each received an Amenity Pack containing slippers, 2 x paper toilet seat covers, disinfectant gel sachet, soap, handwipe/towel, make-up remover pads, cotton buds, emery board, tissues, and disposable toothbrush & toothpaste.
4. Never saw any unofficial catering.
5. No WiFi (but I had roaming, and the signal was pretty reliable throughout}.
6. Wagonweb is mistaken; Carriage 2 is the Sleeper
7. No water supply problems

BUT

I was slightly surprised when our steward left the train at Lamezia Terme, but I presume that is a normal crew change, as 13½ hours after leaving Milan, the train still has over 6 hours still to go before terminating at Syracuse. Other staff then appeared.

On reaching Villa San Giovanni, we loitered on the platform for about an hour, while shunters (first 3, then 5!) wandered up and down. We were then advised that owing to a strike, we had to get off, and make the crossing to Messina by ferry. While waiting, we saw a train shunted off the train ferry, and then our sleeper shunted on, before the ferry set off. Eventually we boarded a catamaran, which overtook the train ferry, so we were already on the platform at Messina in time to see the stock from our sleeper leave for Syracuse. We joined a local train for Catania, arriving only 11 minutes later than scheduled.

The full menu can be found here;

Polaris - Menu minibar

Scopri il menu del Minibar, tanti prodotti genuini all’insegna della dolcezza e della semplicità.

trenipolaris.it

 

[D6130]

Never saw any unofficial catering.

In my experience the unofficial catering tends on the whole to appear on the Roma-Napoli-Sicily daytime IC trains.

 

[Iskra]

In my experience the unofficial catering tends on the whole to appear on the Roma-Napoli-Sicily daytime IC trains.

Agreed, usually while the train is reversing at Napoli

 

[Ant1966]

Agreed, usually while the train is reversing at Napoli

Thirded. Only time I saw those VERY unoffical catering vendors in IT was South of Napoli. Enterprising people, not sure of the provenance of some of their stock!

 

[D6130]

Enterprising people, not sure of the provenance of some of their stock!

Usually the local discount supermarket!

 

[railfan99]

I travelled on the other section (from memory train number 1965) in October 2023.

We had the full ferry on, ferry off experience for both my Palermo and the Siracusa sections: four cars each IIRC. All passengers alighted from the train and used stairs to the ferry's cafe, where I purchased a bottle of soft drink at an exorbitant price. This train ferry was built in 1969 and is the last remaining one in Europe. I'd previously done two others.

The conductor of the Siracusa train (a man at least of late 50s) waved his arms on the platform at Messina Centrale when I was trying to take a photo of both sectors side by side.

We sat there for what seemed ages but it was in accordance with the published timetable.

The distributed breakfast was more than adequate, as I love yoghurt and while never having them in Australia for breakfast, don't mind croissants.

 

[AlbertBeale]

I travelled on the other section (from memory train number 1965) in October 2023.

We had the full ferry on, ferry off experience for both my Palermo and the Siracusa sections: four cars each IIRC. All passengers alighted from the train and used stairs to the ferry's cafe, where I purchased a bottle of soft drink at an exorbitant price. This train ferry was built in 1969 and is the last remaining one in Europe. I'd previously done two others.

The conductor of the Siracusa train (a man at least of late 50s) waved his arms on the platform at Messina Centrale when I was trying to take a photo of both sectors side by side.

We sat there for what seemed ages but it was in accordance with the published timetable.

The distributed breakfast was more than adequate, as I love yoghurt and while never having them in Australia for breakfast, don't mind croissants.

You imply there's only the one ferry. But I'm sure there's more than one boat. When I was there a few years ago one was being loaded with carriages as another one arrived to dock. There are two rail-linked docking berths which can be used - at least on the mainland side - and so two train-carrying ferries can be there at the same time.

 

[nwales58]

You imply there's only the one ferry. But I'm sure there's more than one boat.

Reword to mean one route rather than vessel?

Wonkipedia, italian, suggests 7 rail ferry vessels in existence, 2 of which are now operated by Bluferries hence no longer carry trains. List here:

Traghettamento nello stretto di Messina - Wikipedia

it.wikipedia.org

These 5, if all operational, are the entire FS vehicle+train fleet.

 

[railfan99]

Yes, apologies, I meant 'route' as I did not know whether there were other ferries equipped to carry rail rollingstock.