Mantova, Desenzano, Vicenza, Trieste

Today I'm travelling in Italy from Parma to Trieste.

 Intercity coach (former Frecciabianca).

 FS Class E.402

 X4E - 643 or 193.643 - same locomotive I saw here the day before

 Vectron MS

 First train is a Regionale to Modena and I'm now travelling on the Milan–Bologna railway.

From Wikipedia: "The Milan–Bologna railway is the northern part of the traditional main north-south trunk line of the Italian railway network. It closely follows the ancient Roman Road, the Via Aemilia. The line was opened between 1859 and 1861 as a single-line railway, and was doubled between 1866 and 1894. It was electrified at 3,000 volts DC in 1938. High-speed trains on the route have used the parallel Milan–Bologna high-speed line since 13 December 2008."

 Train R 2891 is a service between Voghera and Rimini

 Typical train composition of Regional services here is push pull with E 464 locomotive and MDVE coaches

The train has a 1st class coach but is rebranded as a 2nd class for some reason

 Inside MDVE coach

 ALn 668 from Ferrovie Emilia Romagna

 Approaching Modena

 FS Class E.652

 MDVE prima classe

 Next is train R 20522 from Modena to Mantova operated by TPER (Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna) and this Stadler Flirt ETR 350

 Passing under the high speed railway

 Verona-Mantova-Modena railway

 Inside ETR 350

 Mantova station

 There are no station lockers in Italy, but thanks to the BagBNB service I found a nearby store where I could leave my bag for 5EUR.

Mantova is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the province of the same name. In 2007, Mantua's centro storico (old town) and Sabbioneta were declared by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site.

 Basilica di Sant'Andrea

(From Wikipedia): "Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family has made it one of the main artistic, cultural, and especially musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole. Mantua is noted for its significant role in the history of opera; the city is also known for its architectural treasures and artifacts, elegant palaces, and the medieval and Renaissance cityscape. It is the place where the composer Monteverdi premiered his opera L'Orfeo and where Romeo was banished in Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It is the nearest town to the birthplace of the Roman poet Virgil, who was commemorated by a statue at the lakeside park "Piazza Virgiliana"."

 Piazza Sordello

 Castello di San Giorgio

Mantua is surrounded on three sides by artificial lakes, created during the 12th century as the city's defence system. These lakes receive water from the Mincio River, a tributary of the Po River which descends from Lake Garda. (Wikipedia)

 Inside Basilica di Sant'Andrea

 Time for a snack

 Every house is a masterpiece

 Regional train with MDVC coaches

 Freight train at Mantova

 Next is R 20776 to Verona where I will change trains for further trip to Desenzano which will be my next stop

 Continuing on the Modena-Verona railway

  Railway junction near Verona

 I had only 5 min time to change trains here in Verona, so this photo is taken from the next train leaving Verona

 Eurosprinter

 Charter train to Hamburg

 DE 520-011 is an old diesel locomotive from Czechoslovakia, here used by DB Cargo Italia

 Milano-Venice railway

 Peschiera del Garda

 Mincio river

 Desenzano will be my next station

 The station is operated by Trenord trains

 From Verona to Desenzano I was travelling with FS Class ALe 582 which is a very similar EMU to the Class ALe 642 I was using the day before on the route La Spezia-Parma

This EMU was manufactured in the late 80's by AnsaldoBreda. Visually it is in my opinion similar to SNCF Class Z 9600, Z2 from Alstom.

 Desenzano station is located near town Desenzano Del Garda, which takes it name from the Lake Garda.

Piazza Giuseppe Malvezzi

 Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy and a very popular tourist destination

 Here in Desenzano I find Spanish fast food chain 100 Montaditos, where I decide to each lunch

 The view from the top of Castello di Desenzano del Garda

 My plan was to use a Regional train to a nearby station of Peschiera and from there take a direct train to Trieste, but due to a heavy delay (about 40min) of this Regional train, my connection would not work. Since it is not anymore possible to purchase Interrail seat reservation online or at the ticket machines, I had to buy one at the ticket counter. So, now I found out how it looked like. Why Trenitalia has removed "Global pass" option from the website is still a mystery, some say that passengers were misusing it...

 However, it is still possible to buy reservations online through a website called Italiarail. On the other hand it is not possible to do that around 20 min before the departure, like it was the case here. The man in the ticker counter told me first that all the seats in Frecciarossa train I was about to take were sold out. After some checking and clicking he found seats...

 NTV ETR 675 "Pendolino"

 Frecciarossa train to Venice is stopping here. That's the train I have a reservation for.

 Frecciarossa 1000, ETR 400 is a high speed train from AnsaldoBreda and Bombardier

 My seat is in coach 3

 Trenitalia has 4 classes, Standard, Premium, Business and Executive. 1st class Interrail passengers have access to Business class.

 Time for an Aperol

 Cheers

 In Business class a snack and a drink is included. An espresso is available as a drink

 Since I've got a reservation all the way until Venice, I've decided to change trains at Vicenza station. The price for seat reservation is the same regardless of travel distance.

 Trenitalia has announced that Frecciarossa 1000 trains will be used on the international service Paris-Milan from 2020. The train is designed to be able to operate in 7 different European countries, hopefully someday that will be the case.

 ETR 343

 ALe 426, Treno ad Alta Frequentazione (TAF)

 ETR 500

 191 010, Vectron DC from CFI - Compagnia Ferroviaria Italiana SpA [I]

 ALe 501, Minuetto

 The freight train has stopped, so I had time to change platforms

 193 661, Vectron MS from MRCE

 Transcereales wagon

 My last train today is a Frecciarossa to Trieste.

 When I booked my seats long time ago through Italiarail, it was announced that it would be ETR 500 train, but now it is another type. It seems that train types are replaced frequently here in Italy, as same thing happened to me last time I visited Italy back in April.

 Freight trains I saw before are letting the faster train pass

 Orient express in the back ground

 At Venezia-Mester the train is changing travel direction so there is a longer stop

 Music and culture festival billboard

 Celebrating 10 years of 300km/h high speed rail operations in Italy

 Two generations of high speed trains in Italy

 Another complimentary drink, this time a prosecco

 From Wikipedia: "The section between Venice and San Giorgio di Nogaro was opened as a local railway from the private company Società Veneta in several sections between 1885 and 1888. Later it was decided to prolonge this line through the international border to Austria-Hungary; in 1894 the Austrian section between Cervignano and Monfalcone was opened by the Friauler Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, the border section between San Giorgio and Cervignano followed three years later.
After the First World War all the line came to Italy, and it became a principal railway, managed by the state company Ferrovie dello Stato."

 Trieste airport station opened in 2018

 Castello di Duino

 Bivio d'Aurisina

 The line to Slovenia

 Train to Slovenia

 Castello di Miramare

 Final stop

 Night train from Trieste

 Trieste station is a terminus

 A church in the station

 Giardino di Piazza della Libertà

 My hotel for the next two nights

 From Wikipedia: "Trieste was one of the oldest parts of the Habsburg Monarchy, belonging to it from 1382 until 1918. In the 19th century the monarchy was one of the Great Powers of Europe and Trieste was its most important seaport. As a prosperous seaport in the Mediterranean region, Trieste became the fourth largest city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (after Vienna, Budapest, and Prague). In the fin de siècle period at the end of the 19th century it emerged as an important hub for literature and music. Trieste underwent an economic revival during the 1930s, and Trieste was an important spot in the struggle between the Eastern and Western blocs after the Second World War."

 Trieste city hall

 Not everybody happy here being part of Italy