Train for Pope's Assisi Trip Making Trial Runs

(October 13, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI will be attending the World day of Prayer and Peace, to be held at Assisi on the 27^th of October. This Assisi gathering is entitled "Pilgrims of Truth, Pilgrims of Peace," is being convened to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first World Day for Peace, held by Pope John Paul II in 1986. Pope John Paul had invited several religious leaders of many faiths from around to join in prayer and fasting. Twenty five years later Pope Benedict is continuing the event began by the late Pontiff. The train that will take Pope Benedict XVI to Assisi in two weeks for the interreligious pilgrimage of peace is doing trial runs in preparation for its prestigious passenger. The train is a high-speed Italian model, made up of two first class departments and five second class. The Pope will be seated in the second car from the front. It is a first class car, but has not been modified in any particular way for the trip. However, due to the absence of aerial electric lines in the Vatican, the train will be pulled by a diesel locomotive from the Vatican to nearby St. Peter's station, where it will be connected to the national electric network. The trip to Assisi is scheduled to take one hour and 50 minutes. The train will slow along the way at the Terni, Foligno and Spoleto stations.