As it rolls across Italy's central regions, a vintage diesel locomotive towing carriages from the 1930s and 1950s crosses the forests of the Majella National park and the Abruzzo highlands, giving tourists on board a glimpse of hidden hamlets.

Across its just over 100 kilometres (62 miles), the so-called Italian Transiberian rail line, also known as the Park Railway, slips into gorges, snakes into 58 tunnels and braves huge viaducts. It was the first of some 1,000 kilometres of line to have re-opened under a project by Fondazione FS, part of state-controlled national rail company Ferrovie dello Stato (FS).