Catanzaro

Beware! The Catanzaro station is nowhere near Catanzaro. In fact, depending on your stamina and financial possibilities, you might never get to Catanzaro by using the Catanzaro station. Beyond it being nowhere near Catanzaro, the fact it is practically abandoned might be off-putting to say the least. Travel to Catanzaro by using Catanzaro Lido station, using a bus afterwards, or if it is ever finished and opened the Ferrovie della Calabria "metro" service.

This is not where you want to go. It's a deserted station in the middle of nowhere. No toilets, no taxis, no ticket booths. You'll be the only person there. The city of Catanzaro is not close to this place.

Thanks to the out-of-the-way area and the little-traveled route, it is practically a ghost station. The main intent seems to be that of a decent station, given the decent amount of space; unfortunately it fails, as it is literally abandoned. It is starting to suffer the first damage from neglect, at least not worsened by wear and tear because not even a punk would be able to reach it, it is so isolated. The staff is practically absent (the two ticket windows are closed without further indications) and the electronic booth doesn't seem to be of much help (at the time of my visit it said "service not available", ergo I couldn't even do a timetable search). At least there are scattered timetables around the station that are a bit poorly maintained, but updated (and the timetables coincide with those on Google and on the Trenitalia website). The most serious problem arises in the event of a tourist who ends up in this station by chance: he is literally abandoned to himself. Even getting a bottle of water would be difficult, given that reaching either the nearest petrol station (Esso) or the university campus requires quite a hike on a busy road and therefore unsuitable for walking and above all dangerous. As the icing on the cake, local public transport is minimal in that area (being a city resident, I know what I'm talking about): it uses the university route, which is still very limited. This means that the only way to leave the station is to call a taxi or wait in the hope of the next bus (it can take hours). It is really curious that it is called "Catanzaro", as if it could be the main station of the city... perhaps it could be when the Germaneto area becomes more populated, which will not happen for years. In conclusion, an almost useless station. I visited it only to make sure that it was actually the station from which a bus will leave that will allow me to reach Lamezia Terme Centrale (which I could only check because I have already purchased the ticket online and I know the bus code and timetable, which I have been able to compare with the timetables). And obviously, I will need someone to take me there, since you can't spend a day waiting for buses to go on a trip.

Only get off here if you want to stay in the middle of the desert. It's called Catanzaro, which would suggest that it is the station that leads to the city of Catanzaro, or maybe it coincides with the Catanzaro FC station, but no! Completely out of the way and with a misleading name for those unfamiliar with the area. Discovered at my expense (ie those of the taxi I had to call) to be brought back to civilization.

A station too far from the nearest inhabited center, the Sala station was better, at least it was connected to the Calabro-Lucane and the funicular. For those who have to go to Catanzaro by train, I recommend using the Catanzaro Lido station, many connections with the rest of Calabria and the connection with the Ferrovie della Calabria train which leads to the center of Catanzaro.