Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
As with the bus services, there are a number of private train lines operating throughout Italy's south, including the fol-
lowing:
Circumvesuviana
(
www.eavcampania.it
) Links Naples and Sorrento, stopping at Ercolano (Herculaneum) and Pompeii.
Ferrovia Cumana
(
www.eavcampania.it
) Connects Naples to the Campi Flegrei to the west. Stops include Pozzuoli.
Ferrotramviaria
(
www.ferrovienordbarese.it
) Services towns in Puglia's Terra di Bari, including Bitonto, Ruvo di
Puglia, Andria and Barletta. Replacement bus service operates Sundays.
Ferrovie Appulo Lucane
(FAL;
www.fal-srl.it
) Links Bari province with Basilicata, including stops at Altamura, Mat-
era, Gravina in Puglia and Potenza. Replacement buses on Sundays.
Ferrovie del Sud-Est
(
www.fseonline.it
) The main network covering Puglia's Murgia towns and the Salento, servicing
tourist hotspots like Castellana Grotte, Alberobello, Martina Franca, Lecce, Gallipoli and Otranto. Replacement buses
on Sundays.
Ferrovia Circumetnea
(
www.circumetnea.it
) A 114km line connecting the towns around the base of Mt Etna in Sicily.
No service on Sundays.
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 a half more than the 2nd-class ticket.
Travel on Trenitalia's InterCity and Alta Velocità (Frecciarossa, Frecciargento, Frecciabianca) trains means paying a
supplement, determined by the distance you are travelling and included in the ticket price. If you have a standard ticket
for a slower train and end up hopping on an IC train, you'll have to pay the difference on board. (You can only board an
Alta Velocità train if you have a booking, so the problem does not arise in those cases.)
Validate train tickets in the yellow machines (usually found at the head of rail platforms) just before boarding. Failure
to do so usually results in fines.
Reservations
Reservations are obligatory on Alta Velocità trains. Otherwise they're not required on other train lines and, outside of
peak holiday periods, you should be fine without them. You can make reservations online, at railway station counters,
travel agents and - when they haven't broken down - at the automated machines sprinkled around most stations.