Metro del Mare - 2011

Norwich, United...
Level Contributor
17,794 posts
5 reviews
12 helpful votes
Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

The "Metro del Mare" began operating in 2001, and since we've lived here its start dates - and those of Easter Sunday - have gone like this:

2003 - 11 April (Apr 20)

2004 - 23 April (Apr 11)

2005 - 7 May (Mar 27)

2006 - 13 April (Apr 16)

2007 - 31 March (Apr 8)

2008 - 22 April (Mar 23)

2009 - 23 April (Apr 12)

Last year - when Easter Sunday fell on Apr 4 - the Regione's plan had been for the service to begin on 23rd April, however problems with the contract process led to that being delayed until June 20th.

No news as yet for 2011, and all I can suggest at present is checking back here in a few weeks: quite probably the proposed start date will again be given in the new "Invitation to tender" document, which last year they issued towards the end of February.

The 'new' website, opened last year, can be found here...

http://www.metrodelmare.net/

There's currently no response from the previous address... wwwDOTmetrodelmareDOTcom

Peter

Norwich, United...
Level Contributor
17,794 posts
5 reviews
12 helpful votes
1. Re: Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

Only a non-update, as at Monday Feb 14th...

No news yet - neither in the Press, nor from Campania's regional government.

Peter

Australia
Level Contributor
1,947 posts
44 reviews
64 helpful votes
2. Re: Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

Hi, If we are there in mid May, will there be other ferries so we can go from Amalfi to Capri for the day? And then I guess we will have to use the bus when we arrive in Salerno (and need to get to Amalfi)? I hope the alternatives are available..... thanks for the updates, much appreciated.

Norwich, United...
Level Contributor
17,794 posts
5 reviews
12 helpful votes
3. Re: Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

By mid-May, both the Co-op Sant'Andrea and the Alicost line will be operating along the Amalfi Coast and on to Capri... it's only the Naples/AC routes that aren't busy enough to support commercial services!

Try doing a search for those...

Peter

Australia
Level Contributor
1,947 posts
44 reviews
64 helpful votes
4. Re: Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

That's great, thank you. I'll look up those ones. Thank you again. Your advice is terrific.

Norwich, United...
Level Contributor
17,794 posts
5 reviews
12 helpful votes
5. Re: Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

Just to say that, as of today, there's still been no definite decision taken as to whether the service will operate this year or not!

Peter

Los Angeles
Level Contributor
1,543 posts
32 reviews
58 helpful votes
6. Re: Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

Peter, thank you for the update!

Forgive my ignorance, but if this service does not run, is there another way to go by boat from say Naples or Sorrento to the towns on the amalfi coast?

Norwich, United...
Level Contributor
17,794 posts
5 reviews
12 helpful votes
7. Re: Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

Aside from the MdM, I don't know of any regular services from Naples - and haven't read of any from Sorrento either.... except during a few early weeks last year, by these people....

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/130578291

(They, and others, do however go to the AC from Capri for most of the season but that's probably of little use to you... unless you wanted to stop in for a look at Capri along the way?)

I think that brief run last year was squeezed in because the MdM ended up starting so late. And, not impossibly, one or two may offer something similar if it's again late, or doesn't happen at all, this year!

It's an awkward situation - there's not actually a huge demand on the routes, so in order to provide the service the MdM has to be subsidised by about 20 Euro per ride.... which in turn means there's no chance of any commercial competitors - but if doesn't run, any substitutes offered will very probably not be as frequent...

Fingers crossed that they'll work out a way to fund it - but, financially, these aren't the greatest of times anywhere?

Peter

Los Angeles
Level Contributor
1,543 posts
32 reviews
58 helpful votes
8. Re: Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

Thanks Peter! That's what I thought. I'm going in mid-may... wouldn't need a boat while in Naples (finding there's way too much to see in this city for 4 days!!) but was hoping to experience the coast by boat during a stay in Sorrento just for a different view. But ah well if it's not available it's not available. Seems like my planned daytrip to Capri should still be ok though :)

You are spot on about the financial times, even my own trip is hanging on by a thread!

GAC
Los Angeles, CA
Level Contributor
10,904 posts
23 reviews
68 helpful votes
9. Re: Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

If Metro del Mare does not get government financing and by consequence pulls out of many or even all of its maritime routes during 2011, it would not be the first such incident. Consider as well:

1. Ustica Lines pulled out of the Naples/Aeolian Islands daylight crossings a couple of years ago;

2. Medmar Lines pulled out of the Naples/Aeolian Islands overnight crossings a couple of years ago;

3. Siremar pulled out of the Mazara del Vallo/Pantelleria daylight crossings a couple of years ago.

Siremar also reduced the frequency of its Naples/Aeolian Islands crossings during the peak summer months from six per week to four per week to two per week, and there has been talk of further cutting the crossings during the "dead season" and perhaps entirely (although services have recently all been confirmed through the end of 2011).

Government handouts are getting scarcer by the day, so it's no surprise (at least to me) to see the possibility of more service cuts by other operators on other routes. Certainly, keeping the Metro del Mare service going just to satisfy a relatively small number of foreign tourists may not carry enormous weight politically, apart from the money they bring to local businesses, which certainly can't be understated. I'm sure that locals also rely on these routes, and they would be inconvenienced even more than occasional (or regular) tourists.

Let's wait and see what transpires: hopefully, many or most of the routes will be salvaged at the last hour, even perhaps if it means a further reduced service season.

Norwich, United...
Level Contributor
17,794 posts
5 reviews
12 helpful votes
10. Re: Metro del Mare - 2011
Save

There's one big difference that our Los Angeles correspondent seems not to have grasped - for all his eagerness to recount the history of shipping routes that have closed in the face of competition from cheapening airfares.

The Metro del Mare is a network of short rides between Campania's seaside resorts, and doesn't really exist... it's a seasonal project, supported by the local authorities, to promote and sustain the area's tourism, and not an ongoing business or company.

When the Campania Regione decide to run it, they put out a tender for hydrofoil operators to supply the vessels and manage them for the next however many years, and at the end of that everyone walks away. Then the process starts again, or doesn't - which is the point we're at now!

There's no shipping line with a permanent staff in need of a Government handout - like America's car industry or Britain's banks - just an on or off arrangement... much as some places use for the transport of kids to school, old people to hospitals and day centres, etc.

The aim is simple - to cut traffic, and CO2, by keeping vehicles carrying vacationers off the roads as much as possible, especially at times when their numbers would otherwise cause traffic to grind to a halt - doing more damage to the region's tourist industry than the subsidy costs.

Obviously there aren't many of our region's 6 million residents among the 200,000 passengers carried each season, but more would notice its absence - as might anyone else travelling around or through Campania, where the roads are already chaotic in summer.

And the effect would be wider-reaching than just tipping those 200,000 passengers back onto the roads, since the scheme also attracts the European funds that have allow more and more of the local harbours to accept the vessels of other fleets (the Co-op Sant'Andrea, Alicost and the like), and the tenders put ashore by the increasing numbers of cruiseships - which widens the choice of landing places they can offer here, and encourages repeat visits.

No reason someone from LA would know or care about any of that, but those intending to visit may care to do so?

Peter

Get answers to your questions about Naples
CA$CAD
United States
© 2021 TripAdvisor LLC All rights reserved.

This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in the United States. If you are a resident of another country or region, please select the appropriate version of Tripadvisor for your country or region in the drop-down menu.