To the southernmost point of Italy or on the last rail ferry?
I am almost there. One last and easy train ride of 62 km separates me from the southernmost point you can reach by train in Italy: the little town of Pozzallo. From there, a ferry offers a fast connection to the island state of Malta, a very tempting target. But I am running out of time. I decide to take a train from Syracuse via Pozzallo to Gela. From there I can continue through the heart of Sicily back to Messina.
Newer than it looks: the beautiful Fontana di Diana in Syracuse was inaugurated in 1907
Unfortunately the train connections in this part of the world are very erratic. There are no trains from Caltanisetta in the center of Sicily to Palermo in the north or to the south coast at Agrigento. The only possibility to explore the interior of Sicily by train is to go to Gela, from there to Caltanisetta and then back to the coast in Catania. The schedule seems to change daily. Every Sunday there are two-hourly trains to Pozzallo which continue to Modica, but no trains to Gela. On Monday there are only a few train connections, but three direct trains to Gela, a ride of 3 hours and 23 minutes. Only the one at 11.11 is at a convenient time. I will arrive in the afternoon, check into a hotel, take in the sights and continue the next day.
Reminder of the Roman legacy of Syracuse: Amfiteatro in the archeological park
I have to leave the B&B, where I stayed for the last three nights, by ten and there is no way to leave my luggage. The station is around the corner and I arrive there more than an hour early. Two trains are waiting at the platforms, an IC train ready to depart for Rome and a recently arrived IC Notte. Even in the morning the heat is oppressive and the air-conditioning of the trains are running under considerable noise. The station is under reconstruction into a sterile transit terminal. The platforms have been raised, everything deemed to be unnecessary has been removed.
View of the Mediterranean and the Calabrian Coast from the fortress built by the medieval Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
There are not many trains leaving from Syracuse. Therefore the display shows most of what they have on offer for the rest of the day. But there is no train to Gela at 11.11. The ticket counter is closed. The ticket machine on the platform doesn’t show this train either.
The station of Syracusa with an IC Notte und a Hitachi HTR 412 IC in the background
One advantage of Italian railways is that there is always plenty of staff. A helpful employee asks me where I want to go. She tells me that the train to Gela is canceled. There is only one direct train today, in the afternoon, or a connection via Catania including multiple changes where I might miss the connection. However, the direct train she refers to is not even in the schedule on the machine and the information panel. She doesn’t know about a replacement bus and sends me to the kiosk in the station building for more information. The guy behind the counter tells me that the only bus has left at 9.
The impressive station building
It does not make a lot of sense to take the late train to Gela. After arrival, there wouldn’t be any time left for sightseeing and in the morning I would have to leave early. I am a bit fed up with the erratic rail service in Sicily. I go back to the ticket machine to check whether there is still space on the IC to Rome. However, I am not able to make a reservation for an interrail ticket holder. Neither in the app on my phone.
HTR 412
The train to Rome is an HTR 412 unit. The number 4 stands for the four carriages of the train, H for Hybrid. These trains were originally introduced in 2020. It is a multi-modal traction EMU which can use 3 kV overhead electric line, batteries or diesel engines. 26 four-car HTR 412 trains were procured for Intercity services. For the connection between Syracuse and Rome, the train can use its batteries to board the ferry in Messina for the transfer to the mainland. Later, it turns out that this is the very first day this train is used for this service. Instead of getting stuck somewhere in Sicily or waiting for replacement busses I could rather take this smart train and use the last railway ferry in Europe. A pity that I already have reserved the hotel in Gela. It is too late to cancel and I would loose the money.
Ships in the bay of Augusta
There are only a couple of minutes left for the departure of IC 724 to Rome at 10.19. As holder of an interrail ticket I have to get a reservation for this train. I ask the friendly employee whether she could get the reservation for me from the ticket machine. Unfortunately she does not know how to do it either. Instead she goes to the train staff and asks something I don’t understand, but I guess whether they can sell me the reservation on the train. Since this doesn’t work either, she proposes to buy a regular ticket for me from the machine. Trains are cheap in Italy. The trip sets me back 23.50 € but the reservation also costs a fee and I save an interrail travel day. I am just able to find my seat and the train departs.
The vast refinery complex between Augusta and Syracusa
My seat is facing away from the sea and I share a table with two boring teenage tourists who stare in their phones. Furthermore, I ride with my back to the direction of travel which is bad for spotting interesting spots along the line. Fortunately the mother of the teenagers, who does not have a window at all, starts a discussion with her brood to swap seats. The daughter gives in and so I get an entertaining travel companion. The four of them – the father is not in a talking mood – are from Adelaide. They use the opportunity of the end of their daughter’s exchange year in the UK after a study of design for a trip home from London via Sicily, Rome and Cairo. Before they leave the train in Catania I know a big part of her life. Her father originally came from Lithuania, was saved by the Americans in Berlin in 1945 and sent to a camp in the German town of Würzburg for three years until he was able to go to Australia and get a degree as an engineer. When she was young they took to the sea with a little 6 m sailing boat her father had built himself. This raised her love of traveling. With a friend she went to various countries in Africa when she was young. Meanwhile she works with aborigines to help them make good use of their land. Although the aborigines don’t own the land they live on, they have a right of use. Unfortunately the native fauna and flora suffers big damage from introduced species. While we pass the industrial wasteland of Augusta she proudly explains that South Australia now generates enough wind and solar energy to meet its needs. A gas-fired power plant is available as a backup.
Smoke from Etna... business as usual
Meanwhile we are in plain view of the Etna volcano. It produces such an impressive column of smoke that even the Australian teenage son is inspired to look up from his phone and out of the window. The Australian family leaves the train in Taormina. The mother is glad that they will move into a nice apartment with a pool. In this heat, that's certainly not an unnecessary luxury.
Station of Taormina
It is astounding how popular a destination for tourists Sicily is nowadays. When we were here in 1984 there was nobody. The Australians give way for two couples from Viña del mar in Chile. They will have to stay on this train for another 10 hours until Rome, where they will board their flight home.
Entry bay of the rail ferry
In Messina, both the train from Syracuse and the identical unit from Palermo have to board the ferry to San Giovanni. The crossing of roughly 7 km across the strait of Messina only takes about 20 minutes. However, one and a half hour pass between the scheduled departures in Messina and in Villa San Giovanni since it takes some time to load and unload the train on the ferry. It is therefore not surprising that there are plans to build a bridge to link the island to the mainland.
View of Messina and another ferry of the FS
Already the Romans dreamed about building a bridge between the mainland and Sicily. It was to be constructed by boats connected by planks. However, the bridge never was realized. Numerous other proposals followed. The first detailed plan for a modern suspension bridge was made in the 1990ies. The motivation was for providing a road connection, the additional railway track was necessary for obtaining subsidies from the EU in the framework of a transeuropean highspeed rail network. A 3.6 km suspension bridge across the Strait of Messina between Torre Faro on Sicily and Villa San Giovanni in Calabria on the Italian mainland was proposed. If built, it would be the longest suspension bridge in the world and part of the Berlin–Palermo railway axis of the Trans-European Transport Networks.
View of the conventional ferry terminal in Messina
There are a lot of concerns and protests against a bridge of such a size in an area known for earthquakes and strong currents in the strait. The bridge supposedly interferes with bird migration routes. And of course there always is the possibility of involvement of Cosa Nostra and 'Ndrangheta infiltration into the bridge's construction.
Embarkation pier for the train
The project was canceled in 2006 under Prime Minister Romano Prodi but revived in 2009 under Silvio Berlusconi. In 2013 under Mario Monti it was cancelled again. Giorgia Meloni resurrected the plans again in 2023 and received final government approval in August 2025, allowing construction on the bridge to commence. The bridge was counted as a defence-related expense inside a NATO spending pot. The United States government said it disapproved of the strategy, calling it "creative accounting". In October 2025, Italy's Court of Audit rejected the proposal.
Two of the embarkation piers and the embarkation building which is not used
In February 2026, Matteo Salvini, minister for infrastructure, said a government decree would keep the project's cost set at €13.5 billion, and he repeated that work should begin in 2026. However, he did not say who would pay the bills when the costs would be higher than what was decreed and he did not commit to further deadlines. In August 2026 the works have to yet started.
HTR 412 train in the hold of the ferry
So for the time being there is no realistic end date for the train ferry service across the strait. However, the uncertainty about the bridge construction invariably casts a shadow on the investment plans of the Italian railways for this area. A new ferry boat is an investment which only pays back after many years. But also investments in the rail infrastructure in the ferry ports and the adjoining stations Messina and Villa San Giovanni have to be linked to the plans about building a bridge. San Giovanni probably would loose its importance as a big station entirely since the high speed trains would not pass through there any more.
The trains in the ferry and the landing bridge for cars
It takes some time until our train gets its chance to hop on the ferry. When Tim Parks did the same trip years ago on one of the conventional trains the air condition was switched off between Messina and Villa San Giovanni, probably because there was no engine to power it. The interior of his coach was boiling. This situation belongs to the past since today. Although the process of boarding is still slow, the smart hybrid train can still power the air conditioning during the shunting.
Rubbish around a disused embarkation track
The ferry terminal in Messina gives a desolate impression. Of the numerous tracks leading to the embarkation bridges only one seems to be still in operation. The others end under piles of rubbish and building material. While there seem to be several rail ferries in the berths next to ours the faculties to board there seem to be out of use. Are they deconstructing or reconstructing here?
The disused embarkation pier
After the trains have been securely fastened on the ship we are allowed to explore the ferry. The Chilean couple volunteers to watch my luggage, we are in Sicily after all. Most of our fellow passengers wander straight to the cafeteria to use the short trajectory for getting coffee. Very few of them dare to venture beyond the doors with a sign “keep closed during crossing”. They give access to the outside platform above both ends of the boat. From there I have a perfect view of the boarding piers, the other ferries moored here and the port.
Old rail ferry
Besides our ferry there seem to be at least four others with the symbol of the italian railways FS, The one next to us, the Trinacria, is rusty and in a different color scheme. The free railroad map shows five invasoturos, boarding berths, three with rail bridges for trains. However, at least the one leading to the rusty ferry is paved over. There is no sign that freight trains are still handled here. Neither is there any access to passengers on foot via the long boarding bridges. Between shacks and all the columns supporting these bridges piles of building material and rubbish await the implementation of a plan.
Statue of the madonna at the entrance to the proper port of Messina
The statue of the Madonna on its column at the end of the flood wall marks our final departure from Sicily. On the base the inscription “vos et ipsam civitatem benedictimus” (We bless you and the city itself) in huge white letters. On the other side a view to the coast makes clear how far the station and the railway ferry terminal are removed from the passenger and car ferry I have taken some days ago. The city of Messina stretches extensively along the coast.
The two HTR 412 trains in the hold of the ferry. There are two more tracks
Meanwhile the trains wait in the bowels for debarkation. Only one end of the ferry has a track for boarding of trains. The other end has the ordinary boarding platform for cars or pedestrians. After arrival in Villa San Giovanni, the trains slowly leave the boat. It takes quite some time of a jerky procedure with tortured wheels whining on rusty rails while the train inches towards a marshaling yard in a crawl. Many people have got up already, luggage at hand, in expectation of getting off in Villa San Giovanni. However, first, the two EMU units are combined in the shunting yard before the trains slowly move into the station of San Giovanni.
The station of Villa San Giovanni
In Villa San Giovanni I have to get another ticket for the short ride to Reggio di Calabria. Fortunately I have more than one hour to move to the narrow passage in the station building where they sell the tickets. I even have time to assist a couple of disoriented Argentinians, who are looking for a later connection to Tropea after they missed their train due to our slow shunting process. I ask myself why somebody from Argentina wants to spend time in Tropea, of all places. But maybe they just want to get away from their miserable government. There monologue complaining about their president and the situation at home carries on until I leave for the ticket counter to buy a ticket to Reggio de Calabria for 2.30 €.
Old Aln 663 train ready for departure
In the station of Reggio de Calabria a nice Aln 663, an old fashioned rail car, waits at the platform to continue on the line along the coast. I would love to take it, hair blowing in the wind of the open windows, but again I have reserved a hotel. The heat is unbearable and after I have checked into my room I first need some time of recovery before I start to explore the town.
The pedestrian zone of Reggio di Calabria
I did not expect a lot in Reggio de Calabria. However, when I finally venture into the center it turns out to be a pleasant, quiet town. The streets are full of pedestrians enjoying the beginning evening breeze. In the extensive pedestrian zone I find an ice-cream parlor but the ice-cream melts away faster than I can lick on it.
Vittoria towers above the beach of Reggio
Reggio de Calabria suffered a lot from earthquakes. Really big ones were in 1783, 1908 and 1923. In 1908 a quarter of the inhabitants lost their lives. Many died when they were surprised by a tsunami after they had fled from the earthquake to the open space of the ocean front. More damage was done since its strategic position close to the strait of Messina attracted air raids in the second world war.
The cathedral of Reggio de Calabria
Also the cathedral suffered damage from the earthquakes. It was rebuilt and the interior, full of light and colorful, is inviting. Even today, a Monday, it houses a wedding. Above the cathedral are the remains of an Aragonese castle. The oldest parts of it were demolished during the darkest moments of the cities recent history.
Interior of the cathedral
In the second half of the 20th century corruption scandals shook the city. The 'Ndrangheta had infiltrated the city council. Urban decay, lack of industrial planning and organized crime dominated the town. The 'Ndrangheta extorted protection money (pizzo) from virtual each business and had more power than the city council in awarding licences to retailers. Since the 1990s, the so-called "Primavera di Reggio", a protest movement of people and government institutions, turned the tide. The left-wing mayor Italo Falcomatà initiated the recovery of the town. Symbolic hereof is the Lungomare Falcomatà, the sea-side boulevard. In fact it is one of the nicest I know of any town in Italy. The boulevard is dotted with rare magnolias, exotic palms and other enormous trees. Beach pavilions invite to have a drink or dinner accompanied by a sunset above the Etna volcano across the strait.
The Aragonese fortress of Reggio
The beach promenade also includes an old-fashioned playground. Further-on some fishing boats rest on the beach while men in their bathing trunks try their luck with a rod and line. Here the nice part of the promenade comes to an end. The area gives an impression of the times when most of the town looked decrepit. At the horizon Etna still ejects a cloud of smoke as a permanent warning that more dangers might be waiting in the future.
The beach promenade
Sources:
Tim Parks, Italian ways, Ranadom House, Vintage, 2013
Statue of Athena Promachus on the beach in Reggio dedicated to the Italian king Vittorio Emmanuele III
Link to the following post:
The strait of Messina and Etna from the beach in Reggio di Calabria
