Trip to Italy and Slovenia - November 2025
General Notes
Two days in Italy, based around covering the cross-border line at Gorizia/Nova Gorica into Slovenia. This was only in the 2025 timetable in support of Gorizia's "European Capital of Culture" status, but now appears to be continuing into 2026. To make a weekend of it I planned to visit the Villa Opicina tramway in Trieste (which didn't work) followed by a day around Treviso and Padova (Padua).
Numbers/letters in [square brackets] are platform identifiers.
Operating Company Abbreviations and Details
- FUC - Ferrovie Udine Cividale (train operator of the Udine - Cividale line, also international trains Trieste - Udine - Tarvisio - Villach).
- TI - Trenitalia (main train operator in Italy).
Track gauge
Standard gauge (1435 mm).
| Place | Arrive | Depart | Train | Traction details & notes |
Friday 21 November 2025
| Timperley | 15:07 | Metrolink tram 3009+3052 | ||
| Piccadilly | 15:33 | |||
| Manchester Piccadilly | 15:51 [13] | 1P74 | TransPennine Express DMU 185107+185126 dep 18 late | |
| Manchester Airport | 16:09 [3] | arr 12 late | ||
| Manchester Airport T3 (MAN) | 18:20 | FR2898 | Ryanair 9H-QAW B737-8AS de-ice at gate 52, push-back 18:28, take-off 18:40 from runway 23L | |
| Venezia Marco Polo Airport | 21:40 | 22:10 | '35B' | landed 21:36 on runway 4R, on outside stand 21:41; bus to terminal. ATVO bus. |
| Venezia Mestre Stazione FS | 22:30 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: none. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Plaza Viale Stazione 36, Venezia Mestre, 30171; opposite Venezia Mestre station. | ||||
| Notes: Flight on time, which was helpful given the late arrival into Venezia. |
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Saturday 22 November 2025
| Venezia Mestre | 07:16 [1G] | R7973 | TI BMMU ETR412-051 | |
| Via Monfalcone avoiding line; Gorizia Centrale [3] (arr 09:07, reverse, change to diesel mode, dep 09:22) | ||||
| Nova Goriza | 09:39 [2] | walk | ||
| Gorizia Centrale | 12:18 [1] | RGV3876 | TI EL 464-634 P | |
| Trieste Centrale | 13:02 [5] | |||
| Walked to Piazza Dalmazia to ride on tram route 2 to Villa Opicina, only to find it "temporarily suspended"! | ||||
| Trieste Centrale | 15:45 [8] | RE1818 | FUC EL 190 302 (9183 2190 302-6) +3C | |
| Via Cervignano-Aquileia-Grado [2] | ||||
| Udine | 16:59 [1] | 18:09 [6] | RV3894 | TI EMU ETR261-054 |
| Treviso Centrale | 19:25 [6] | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Venezia Mestre - Trieste Airport; Monfalcone avoiding line; Gorizia Centrale - Nova Gorica; Cervignano-Aquileia-Grado - Udine. | ||||
| Overnight: Hotel Continental, Via Roma 16, 31100 Treviso (five minutes' walk from station). | ||||
| Notes: Part 1 for today worked well, covering the curve avoiding Monfalcone as well as the border crossing iinto Slovenia; this journey re-cleared my Slovenia passenger track. The Villa Opicina tram re-opened earlier this year but, having gone to Trieste specially, isn't running! I wasn't expecting the Trieste to Udine train to be loco-hauled, that was a nice surprise; it is a through train to Villach in Austria, and filled in a gap for me via Cervignano-Aquileia-Grado. Hotel in Treviso close to the station to be in position for tomorrow morning. |
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Sunday 23 November 2025
| Treviso Centrale | 09:35 [1] | RE17324 | TI DMU MD033 (95 83 3501 033-5) | |
| Belluno | 11:15 [2] | 12:34 [2] | RE17297 | TI DMU MD033 (95 83 3501 033-5) |
| Montebelluna | 13:56 [3] | 14:08 [2] | RE3721 | TI EMU ETR360.003 via Castelfranco Veneto [5] |
| Padova | 14:56 [8] | 15:16 [8] | RE16520 | TI EMU ETR360.003 via Citadella [3] |
| Bassano del Grappo | 16:20 [2] | 16:21 [3] | RE16361 | TI EMU ETR343.015+343.001 dep 6 late; via Castelfranco Veneto [1] |
| Venezia Mestre | 17:21 [9] | |||
| Venezia Mestre Stazione FS | 18:10 [1] | ? | ATVO bus | |
| Venezia Marco Polo Airport (MCO) | 18:30 | 21:15 | Ryanair EI-PEB B737-8AS bus to outside stand, start moving 22:10, take-off 22:21 from runway 04R | |
| Manchester Airport T3 (MAN) | 22:35 | landed 23:33 on runway 23R, on stand 44 at 23:53 | ||
| Manchester Airport | 23:53 | taxi | ||
| Timperley | 00:08 | Today's photos | ||
| New passenger track today: Treviso Centrale - Montebelluna - Belluno; Montebelluna - Castelfranco Veneto - Camposampriero - Padova; Camposampriero - Citadella - Bassano del Grappo; Bassano del Grappo - Castelfranco Veneto - Trieste Mestre. | ||||
| Notes: Today worked perfectly except for the delayed flight getting home! A nice run up into the hills to Belluno, though I expect it will re-open beyond there soon, as electrification looks almost complete. There's quite a complex little network in this area and I was able to go backwards and forwards a bit to cover several different routes, even with the Sunday timetable. |
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| Summary: An excellent weekend away, except for missing out on the Villa Opicina tramway.... Tickets used: Two days of InterRail left over from a previous trip. Weather: Cold but dry. Windy in Trieste but OK elsewhere. |