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From Wikivoyage

It's a little-known fact that the Vatican has its own train station; it is rarely ever used. Historically, it has been used by the Pope for special travel on Italian rail or to send off papal remains. By special arrangement with the Italy State railway, ordinary people (usually train enthusiasts) can arrange to arrive and leave the Vatican via the Vatican Station. This requires quite some time to arrange and is not remotely cheap.

Consider me interested. However Wikivoyage is lacking info on how to achieve this? Can anyone else provide some information on this?

Mark Mayo
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  • little-known fact indeed! –  Aug 27 '18 at 10:45
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    Would this do? http://www.museivaticani.va/content/museivaticani/en/visita-i-musei/scegli-la-visita/musei-e-collezioni/vaticano-in-treno.html – Berend Aug 27 '18 at 11:05
  • I think it travel one per week for "ordinary" people. Then (AFAIK) it is to transport freight (food), quicker than Rome traffic. – Giacomo Catenazzi Aug 27 '18 at 11:29
  • @Berend: that seems to be a different travel (to Castel Gandolfo, which it is outside Vatican, and "far" from Rome and real station outside vatican). – Giacomo Catenazzi Aug 27 '18 at 11:32
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    @giacomo-catenazzi this train supposedly goes from Vatican City to Gandolfo, and back. – Berend Aug 27 '18 at 11:40
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    I have edited the Wikivoyage page to describe the weekly tour pointed out by Berend, so it no longer contains the quote from the answer. – Jacob Bundgaard Aug 27 '18 at 15:42
  • The tunnel must be fun but I think the station itself is a little underwhelming. – Strawberry Aug 28 '18 at 09:21
  • @Strawberry which tunnel? The shunting yard, which is partially underground? See https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrovia_Vaticana#Percorso (the diagram on the right) – Astrinus Aug 28 '18 at 13:07

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I am not sure if it is a little-known fact that there is a train station in the Vatican City, but never mind. You should be able to find the station and the rail line quite prominently on any map of the Vatican.

Other fun facts: The railway network is also the shortest in any state, with a track length of 1.27km, and the most dense railway network with 2.89km of track per km².

As Berend already pointed out in his comment, there is a weekly package tour operated each Saturday, which is open to the public. This tour has been available at least for a few years and I have no idea why Wikivoyage is so outdated. Tickets start at €41 and there are several options including additional guided tours or frills. The included train ride is first a trip from the Vatican City station to Castel Gandolfo in the morning and a trip back from Castel Gandolfo to Roma San Pietro (last station on the Italian side of the border) in the late afternoon.

So strictly speaking, you can only travel on the regularly scheduled train from the Vatican City station and not to.

psmears
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Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
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    Here some more information about timetable and which day: http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom/Treni-Regionali/Lazio/Il-treno-delle-Ville-Pontificie – Giacomo Catenazzi Aug 27 '18 at 13:05
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    ...and a photo-loaded article: http://www.ferrovie.it/portale/leggi.php?id=1358 (italian only); fun fact: the train remains with the pantograph on the Italian side of the border railway gate (normally closed, photo of the opening), because the Vatican side is not electrified. – Astrinus Aug 27 '18 at 14:20
  • However... it is not true that you can travel only from and not to Vatican City station, although only on special services: http://www.ferrovie.it/portale/articoli/6188 (school children on "Cortile dei Gentili" day), http://www.ferrovie.it/portale/articoli/6724 (historic train for Fatima centenary), http://www.ferrovie.it/portale/articoli/3231 ("children train"), http://www.ferrovie.it/portale/articoli/2998 (historic train for a railway enthusiast group based in Turin) – Astrinus Aug 27 '18 at 14:30
  • @Astrinus I have amended my answer, but I am not sure if any of the extraordinary train trips you are linking to were actually open to the public. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Aug 27 '18 at 14:44
  • The second for sure, the fourth... well, it depends on who you know (usually these groups will spread the news among their relatives, friends and related groups) – Astrinus Aug 27 '18 at 14:52
  • Why can you not take the train to the Vatican? – Azor Ahai -him- Aug 27 '18 at 16:26
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    @AzorAhai If you want to know for sure, you will have to contact the tour operator and ask. Just my wild guess: The retour is so late, that all the museums in the Vatican City are already closed. It would not make much sense to bring the participants back into the Vatican City. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Aug 27 '18 at 22:25
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    @Thunderforge As you can see in the comments to the question: That has already been considered and done. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Aug 27 '18 at 22:26
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    If you're into Fun Facts about the Vatican, how about this one: Statistically, the Vatican has two popes per km² – KlaymenDK Aug 28 '18 at 11:09