The Ferrovie Udine-Cividale (the unfortunately-abbreviated FUC) have a fleet of two Siemens Eurosprinter electric locos, which have a daily passenger diagram between Italy and Austria.
E190 301 and E190 302 are the two machines concerned; both “class 1216s” obtained by FUC in 2011 largely for the “Mi-Co-Tra” (“Miglioramento dei Collegamenti Transfrontalieri” project, the EU-funded upgraded operation on the cross-border artery from Trieste, through Udine to Villach.
Two round trips between Udine and Villach have been provided daily since Summer 2012 as part of a joint operation between FUC and ÖBB, powered by one of the E190s. Only one of the locos is planned to be used in passenger service each day. Other trains on the cross-border route are formed of Railjets with very similar ÖBB class 1216s.
These trains generally convey a bike van in their short formations, and indeed cyclists out to pursue their hobby in the middle of the Alps account for a significant chunk of the trains’ clientele. On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, these services are extended through to Trieste, an Adriatic port city.
The diagram
The diagram for these workings is as follows (Sat, Sun and public holiday variations in brackets):-
Train 1820, 07:14 Udine (05:45 Trieste) – Villach 08:54
Train 1821 09:45 Villach – Udine 11:30 (Trieste 12:59)
Train 1822 17:22 Udine (15:50 Trieste) – Villach 19:07
Train 1823 19:29 Villach – Udine 21:13 (Trieste 22:39)
The timetable document can be found on the FUC website here.
These services form something of a local stopping service through Villach’s suburbs, so can be covered entirely in Austria with very little time outlay should you just be interested in getting the loco “in the book”.
European Traction 