Over the past year, a number of articles have appeared on BlogoItaliano to one degree or another affecting the subject of railways in Italy. That is why we can say that the time has come to collect all pieces of information together and try to write general material that will be useful to those "our" tourists who are not going to limit themselves to visiting one city in Italy, rich in sights.
Italy's railways are the circulatory system of its economy, and therefore, whoever was in power in the Apennines, he paid considerable attention to the development of railway networks.
Railways in Italy: how profitable
Over the last 10 years Italy railway system consistently modernized, and today, in addition to conventional trains, high-speed express trains regularly run between the largest economic and tourist centers in Italy, allowing you to make giant throws in a matter of hours.
Often, traveling by train from one Italian city to another is even faster than by plane, if by the time of the flight you add hours to travel to the airport and check in. In addition, often - this is a cheaper option too.
Traveling by high-speed trains in Italy is very comfortable.
In more detail about the different ways of traveling between the most interesting cities in Italy, including prices and estimated travel times, BlogoItaliano already wrote in the following posts:
Map of railways in Italy
Railways of Italy they link together all the more or less significant cities of the Apennine Peninsula. BlogoItaliano once dwelt on the Italian railroad scheme in more detail and even dedicated a separate article with a map to it. It can be found here.
Types of trains in Italy
The types of trains in Italy differ significantly from each other, and the choice between them is not only speed, but also the expected level of travel comfort.
Local trains in Italy are the cheapest
High-speed trains in Italy (High-Speed Trains)
High-speed trains in Italy in recent years have become especially popular. They are known as Frecce (Frecciarossa, Frecciargento and Frecciabianca). Traveling on such trains is not only in many cases the fastest option to get from one end of Italy to the other, but also the most comfortable one too.
Italy train tickets can be booked in advance 2 months in advance and without fail include a seat reservation, which, in comparison with other types of trains (especially in the high tourist season), allows you to feel a very significant advantage: you probably know that the place is reserved and the ticket is with you, therefore, they are insured against possible incidents at Italian railway stations.
Intercity trains run between major large and medium-sized cities
Intercity Trains
Intercity trains in Italy travel between major large and medium-sized cities, and can also stop at small stations. Actually, these frequent stops are one of the main reasons why such a trip takes longer than high-speed.
In these trains, seats are often divided into first and second class, the difference between which is the convenience of seats, price and, as a rule, the number of passengers.
Intercity trains can also be booked 2 months before the travel date, however if you want to make a reservation for a particular place, you will have to pay extra for this. However, it happens that, by analogy with high-speed trains, a seat reservation is also required and is included in the ticket price.
Local Trains
Trains marked as Regionale are local (analogous to our electric trains) and have a schedule that has much in common with work and school hours in Italy. Usually, they travel short distances to nearby cities and make many stops.
On regional train tickets, departure date and time are not indicated
Local trains in Italy are the cheapest and least comfortable (even if only because in most cases they do not have the option of booking a seat). In most cases, the date and time of train departure are not indicated on regional train tickets. In addition, such tickets must be composted BEFORE boarding the train.
Continuation of the article: Italian Railways: train schedules and ticket purchases
