High speed rail in Italy

There are two competing rail companies in Italy. The oldest and largest is http://www.trenitalia.com/ . Owned by the government TrenItalia runs a large network of trains. Those trains include not just high-speed trains  but many slower regional lines. If you’re traveling off the high-speed rail corridors TrenItalia will be your only choice.

Italo Treno

is a relatively new competitor.  https://www.italotreno.it/en Privately owned and operated it runs almost exclusively on the high-speed corridor. At the moment running from Salerno in the south towards Turin and Venice in the north.

Italo route map

https://www.italotreno.it/en/destinations-timetable

You will see from the route map that the routes spilt at Bologna.  At the moment Italo doesn’t travel directly from Turin to Venice. They have announced that this route is coming but at the moment if you need to travel across the north of the country your main choice is TrenItalia.

Italo being a new smaller competitor tends to run sales fairly often. You can find the normally running offers on the website. https://www.italotreno.it/en/train-offers/day-return-ticket But the best way to keep up on the offers is to follow Italo on Twitter.  https://twitter.com/ItaloTreno Their Twitter feed is a great resource for keeping up on the latest sales from the company. Sales tend to range from 30 to 60% off. Before you get too excited the sales will have a limited number of dates. Maybe be restricted to certain classes or have other restrictions. Make sure to read the offer terms before booking. Even with the restrictions if your travel dates match the offers can be exceptional values.

Train apps

Both companies offer smartphone apps. The apps allow you to book. Search for routes. The apps even allow to check if your train is running late.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=it.italotreno

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lynxspa.prontotreno

Train experience

If you haven’t experienced a high speed rail in Italy train you will be pleasantly surprised.  You may be impressed by the 300km/h top speed but what you’ll really appreciate is the comfort. Ample seats. A fair bit of room for baggage. Room to move around. The stations used are almost always in the city centres. That means no expensive cab ride to the airport. No getting to the airport two hours in advance. It also means when you arrive you’ll have really arrived. If you fly it’s possible to have a longer ride from the airport then the flight.

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