Transport - Italy - page 1896

Regionale/interregionale Slow and cheap, stopping at all or most stations.

InterCity (IC) Faster services operating between major cities. Their international counterparts are called
Eurocity (EC).

Alta Velocità (AV) State-of-the-art, high-velocity trains, including Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabi-
anca and Italo trains. with speeds of up to 300km/hr and connections to the major cities. More expensive
than InterCity express trains, but journey times are cut by almost half.

TRAINS: HIGH-VELOCITY VS INTERCITY

HIGH- VELOCITY DURATION
(HR)

PRICE
(€)

INTERCITY DURATION
(HR)

PRICE
(€)

FROM TO

Turin Naples 5½ 105 9¾ 70.50

Milan Rome 3¼ 86 6¾ 55.50

Venice Florence 2 45 3 27

Rome Naples 1¼ 43 2¼ 24.50

Florence Bologna 37min 24 1 11.50

Classes & Costs
Prices vary according to the class of service, time of travel and how far in advance you book. Most Italian
trains have 1st- and 2nd-class seating; a 1st-class ticket typically costs from a third to half more than 2nd-
class.
Travel on Trenitalia's InterCity and Alta Velocità (Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca) trains
means paying a supplement, included in the ticket price, determined by the distance travelled. If you have a
standard ticket for a slower train and end up on an IC train, you'll have to pay the difference on board.

Reservations
» Reservations are obligatory on AV trains. On other services, outside of peak holiday periods, you should
be fine without them.

» Reservations can be made on the Trenitalia and Italo websites, at railway station counters and self-service
ticketing machines, or through travel agents.

» Both Trenitalia and Italo offer a variety of advance purchase discounts: the earlier you book, the greater
the saving. Discounted tickets are limited, and refunds and changes are highly restricted. For tickets and
prices, see the Trenitalia and Italo websites.