The future of train travel is here in Italy today, under the old Trenitalia Ferrovie dello Stato rail system, to which has been added a new, high speed network made up of a fleet of beautiful Freccia (arrow) trains. The Frecciarossa (red arrow) trains link the major cities of Naples, Rome, Florence, Milan, Turin, and Venice and travel up to 175 miles per hour across the country. It is now possible to travel from Milan or Venice to Rome in about 3 hours. This Italian network is linked to major European cities outside of Italy as well, and can be an efficient way to extend travel plans to neighboring countries, with restaurant cars and sleeper cars available for longer journeys. These cars are also equipped with WiFi. The Frecciargento (silver arrow) and Frecciabianca (white arrow) trains are part of this new family of trains and link smaller cities and towns. For a slightly higher fee, they provide a more comfortable ride than the older trains and make fewer stops. Ask about the availability of these trains when purchasing a ticket at the station. Or, go to the official Trenitalia site, www.trenitalia.com, and click on one of the three silver tabs in the upper right hand corner of the home page for the Freccia train of your choice
Italo is a privately owned company that also offers high speed passenger train service. Italo offers a club membership for frequent travelers, with private waiting rooms at the train stations and special cars with reclining leather seats, personal TVs, WiFi, and meal service. Look for the bright red automatic ticket machines, or purchase tickets at their ticket offices in the train station. For more information or to purchase tickets on line, go to www.italotreno.it.
Read all about this new network and learn about traveling throughout Italy on the different classes of trains offered by Trenitalia and Italo on the website www.seat61.com. Click on the link for Italy and search for “A beginner’s guide to train travel in Italy” to see pictures of each type of train and learn more about the accommodations that are offered.
All of the high speed trains require a reservation (prenotazione), and the ticket issued will have an assigned car (carrozza) and seat (posto) for each passenger. Look for the car number on the side of the train,
or ask the conductor, who will come out of the office to the platform when the train enters the station prior to departure.
Tickets can be purchased online in most cases, starting 60 days prior to departure, and in some cases up to 90 days.
These online tickets may be discounted up to 60% off the price paid at the train station, depending on how far in advance they are purchased. Beware, though – the timetables change in mid June and mid December
each year, so be sure to check them again before departing if you have bought tickets in advance.
The Trenitalia site accepts Italian credit cards, but may have difficulty processing European and American cards (as of January 2011).
Also, the site times out, so you need to be quick, and may have difficulty purchasing more than one ticket at a time.
An alternative site, all in English, is www.raileurope.com. And, remember, you will need a valid personal ID in order to travel between European cities, along with your ticket; or, if you choose the ticketless travel (within Italy only), you will need the registration number.
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