The Circumetnea is a 111km long, 950mm gauge, diesel operated line that winds its way around the western side of Mt Etna. It starts at Riposto (interchanging with Trenitalia at Giarre-Riposto), continuing to Catania Borgo station. It used to continue through the streets of Catania to Catania Porto station. However, this part of of the line was closed and replaced by the Catania Metro. Catania Porto is still there, but appears to be a maintenance facility for the metro trains.
The line is somewhat somewhat schizophrenic in nature. Between Adrano Nord to Catania, sections have been upgraded in preparation for conversion to a metro. However, it is still run by diesel units. Before this, there are also a couple of sections where the line has been placed underground, with metro-style stations created. The rest of the line involves a massive, rural, uphill section from Riposto to Randazzo (including a section just outside Randazzo that needed rebuilding after it was swept away by lava). After Randazzo, the line takes on a sleepy branch-line feel, with multiple stops for unguarded crossing. There are also sections where the line picks its way through barren lava fields. Mt Etna looms for the whole journey, but there is also some fantastic scenery and surreal landscapes to see out of the other window!
The services are run by various diesel units. ADe 11-20 were made by TIBB in 1980. ADe 21-25 are from the 90s (made by ITIN) and the newest Vulcano series of 2015 are by Newag.
I travelled the length of the line on 13/04/2022. The services don't run all the way through. I travelled Riposto to Randazzo on 2x ADe ITIN units (25 leading), then transferred to TIBB No20 for the rest of the journey. I did not see any of the Newag units, though one was lurking in the depot at Catania.
This video shows the 2x ITIN units off the service from Riposto running into the shed. The TIBB no20 arrives from Catania, then transfers to the departure platform.
I had to add a bit of stabilisation to these videos, so there are a few warps and blips!
