Castellammare Di Stabia

May 01, 2025

Castellammare Di Stabia - Day 2

We chose a lovely modern apartment, newly renovated and furnished in the center of a young and bustling area. We are on the top floor which is a few steps from the seafront of Castellammare where you can enjoy spectacular sunsets. Around are great restaurants, pizzerias, gourmet, trattorie, ice cream parlors and the beach.

The railway station, Circumvesuviana, connects with Pompeii, Sorrento, and Naples. We will take the ferry on the days we spend in Capri and Positano.

Our day began at the Roma Termini where we needed to take a train to Naples and then change trains to Castellamare di Stabia.

Our Italo train from Rome to Naples (AV 8903) left at exactly 11:15 am from platform 10. You had to be on the platform ten minutes prior to departure. Depending on your zoning, you must be in the correct zone to board the correct car. The train was a fast train that took just over an hour.

Each car is equipped with a full bathroom.

The seating was excellent. The train was spotless and all trains in Italy leave on time.

When we arrived in Naples we needed to connect to the EAV train to our destination.

This was a bit of a challenge since we were not familiar with the station. After asking a few people we were able to find out that we needed to go downstairs to the EAV ticket counter to purchase our tickets. A whooping 6 Euros for both of us.

This train line has no announcements prior to the upcoming station and when it does stop, there is absolutely no signage on the platform.

When we first boarded the train we counted how many stops we had before we reached our destination.

After ten minutes went buy we were very confused why the train

was not stopping at the multiple stops on the map.

The photo above was taken prior to the disaster.

The train stopped and people got off but we had no idea what station it was. When the train started moving again it shook like the train was going off the tracks. Everyone was freaking out. The train stopped for about ten minutes and since we were in the last car, the employee came out. We later figured out that he must have been speaking to the driver at the front of the train that had no idea what was happening in the last car.

When the train started moving again the noise was much louder and it shook more violently than the first time. Things were coming up through the seams in the floor, debris was falling from the ceiling and we noticed a panel above one of the exits opened.

There was no communication to all of us on the train and when I saw the back door fully open I walked to the back to see if I could look to see what was happening. Both the front and rear drivers were walking around the train. One had his hand on his head which was quite disturbing.

An hour later we were all asked to get off the train. We had no idea what was happening as no one was communicating with anyone. As we moved towards the exit door we heard someone say that a passenger pulled the emergency break to stop the train for safety.

The drivers opened the doors on one side of the train and placed metal ladders into the train for the passengers to get off.

Were we all walking on the concrete covered with vegetation to the next station?

How would we pull our luggage over the vegetation?

The train was enclosed on a track that was protected from both sides.

Other passengers were helping everyone get off the train. Once we started walking towards the car in front of us, we were asked to board that car with the metal ladder attached to the open door. We noticed that they decoupled our car from the rest of the train. It was standing room only as we were asked to board the car in front of us and we were as tight as sardines. Once everyone was on board, the doors closed and the train began to move. Everyone cheered and even the little dog on board had something to say.

The next stop was where we were to get off and we were delighted it was over.