The Italian Railway. Railway transport in Italy

It is generally believed that the Italian railway was born in 1839. A branch with a length of just over 7 km connected Naples and the suburban station - Protezi. Only after the fragmented country united in a single state (after 1860), a new way of traveling began to conquer spaces and admirers.

Cargoes and passengers

Curiously, rail transportation of goods across Italy is not very popular. The palm of the championship is confidently held by automobile transport: good, the ideal state of roads allows.

International companies also prefer wheels or, at worst, a path along the waves: 144 seaports make it more profitable. In the network you can find reviews, where travelers mark abandoned and little-loaded sorting stations: it seems that the railway transportation of goods and really go through bad times.

But the passenger - in good order. For this indicator, Italy ranks fifth in Europe and the ninth in the world.

The best of the best

In principle, transportation by rail is the most convenient for tourists. Aircraft are expensive, not everywhere they get, renting a car and in itself is not cheap, and it will have to add expensive parking, toll roads and gasoline. In addition, according to experienced motorists, the culture of driving in Italy is not very developed, so insurance is also highly desirable.

So the car should be taken only by very "cunning" tourists, who are not interested in Roman and Florentine beauties - they are eager to see the country closer, to visit small villages, private distilleries, to admire the natural beauties. For the overwhelming majority of travelers, the railway is what the doctor prescribed. It covers the entire country with a dense network, and you can also save money.

The situation with carriers

Private railway companies in Italy, of which around 40 in the country, serve only 20% of the market and, as a rule, operate locally (regional electric trains, which will be discussed later, it is their "patrimony").

The largest carrier of the country is called Gruppo Ferrovie dello stato Italia. The enterprise was founded in 1905, and in 1992, under the government's decision, it was transformed into a limited liability company. The company is 100% owned by the state.

It serves the vast majority of routes and passengers, uniting all the railways of Italy. Tickets can be purchased online or at the station (at the ticket offices and terminals).

Purchase of a ticket

As for the most traditional method, it is not very convenient: many cashiers do not speak English, they only work until 8 pm (and sometimes even up to 6), at a later time a station bar can turn into a "cashier", and not a local resident to understand This will be quite difficult.

In order not to rush in search of the station, it is better to turn to the automatic machine (the unit "knows" English), you can pay in cash and with a bank card.

It is best to purchase tickets on the official website of the carrier (trenitalia.com), however, certain skills are needed. Let the da Vinci homeland be a real mecca for tourists, and its residents visit different countries, travelers who do not speak Italian or English will have a hard time: the site offers "chatting" only in these two languages.

Best - buy a ticket online

However, the interface, as they say, is intuitively understandable, and you can cope with it with a minimum of knowledge. The only thing that you need to pay attention to: those who encountered the resource, advise the name of the points of departure / destination to write in Italian, otherwise the smart machine will not understand and God will send the message where.

To begin with it is necessary to be defined with a train on which it is necessary to go: the railway network of Italy is enough sated and there can be some variants. You can study the schedule on the same site or look for other resources on the Internet. Having found out required, it is necessary to fill in the special form for purchase of the ticket, it is obligatory to leave the electronic address and easy to wait: the answer will come only in day.

It will be necessary to go to the link, change the password - and only then pay with the card (be sure to keep the filled form with the name and surname coinciding with what is written on the card).

After paying for the passenger's e-mail tickets will come - they need to be simply printed, nothing else is needed: the purchased online travel document is not compostable, unlike the others (bought at the checkout or vending machine). Experienced travelers say that it is highly desirable to write down a special PNR code - it will be required by the controller on the train, which will check the data of the passengers on the database and issue a check. Of course, for this he has a special device, but everything happens.

Swift La Brecche

Rail transport in Italy is carried out mainly three types of trains.

The first - a high-speed "Eurostar" or "Arrow", which are chasing between the major cities of the country. On the website of the carrier they are affectionately called "la Freche".

In total there are three varieties: Bianca (white) - the slowest, speed about 180 km / h, Argento (silver) - 250 km / h and Rosso (red) - the fastest, 350 km / h. The given data should be guided, making a choice - the farther to go, the faster the train should be.

Of course, the fare "bites" (from Rome to Florence you have to pay about 60 euros), but the conditions of travel are luxurious and you can get to your destination in less than two hours (even if the distance is more than 500 km). It is very convenient for those travelers who want to "cover" as many sights in a short time.

Simultaneously with the purchase of the travel document, a seat in the train is booked, there is also no need to compile a ticket (in other cases it is better to follow it carefully).

Long-distance message

Strela stops doing the minimum. If the desired destination is not among them, you will have to pay attention to the second type of trains offered by the Italian railway - intercity (intercity domestic and Europe).

Here, the armor will have to worry in advance, but it will cost 3 euros. If the place is not important, you can simply sit on any free, but you should definitely punch the ticket at the station (bright yellow or blue boxes - putting the ticket into the hole, you have to wait until the machine puts the time and date).

The validated ticket is valid for 6 hours, not pinched - 2 months. It can even be returned, losing about 20% of the cost, but he does not give the right to travel. In the event that passengers jump into the departing train or simply forget to look for a composter at the station, it is necessary to immediately go (independently, this is important!) In search of the controller.

If he catches the negligent traveler himself, he will have to pay a considerable fine, which also does not exempt from buying a ticket - the Italian railway does not favor the "hares". Going without a ticket is expensive, unpromising. Yes, and ashamed.

An analog of commuter train

The third type of message is regional electric trains. It will take a long time (one and a half to two times longer than in the "Strela"), but it's cheap. They drive, as a rule, for a distance of not more than 200 km. For example, if the location is Rome, and you want to admire the Florentine heritage of the High Renaissance, the journey in a second class train of an intercity train will cost 44 euros, and on the train - at 21.

Save on the latter, of course, will not work - the price will be the same, whenever a passenger has bought a ticket, even before departure.

Whether the case of "La Frecce" or "Intercity": if you take care of the travel document in advance - for two months (at least) before the proposed trip, you can buy it on an economy-and super-eco-tariff. This will allow buying a ticket almost twice cheaper. So, according to the tariff superekonom from Rome to Florence, you can get home for only 19 euros (second class).

Comfortable Europe

According to reviews, against the backdrop of the "Arrow" or "Intercity" electric trains look miserable and shabby, nevertheless to the "post-Soviet" they are very far away. So the inhabitants of the former Union have nothing to fear: the Italian railway transport does not know the wooden benches, torn handrails and broken windows.

Pay attention to the class of the car - by placing it in the wrong place, you will have to pay the difference in value. Experienced travelers say that the level of comfort in the second and first class is almost the same. Well, bring a microscopic cup of coffee or a fresh newspaper (Italian). It is hardly worth overpaying for them.

Surprisingly (at this speed of communication), but still rail transport in Italy are night (crooked tourists boast that when moving from city to city you can sleep in a car and save a lot on the hotel).

Important details

The next thing you need to pay attention to is the railway station. In large cities, there may be several, and not on the same one, it will be impossible to catch up with the departed train. The lists of main stations and their abbreviations are listed on the website.

To navigate the station, you need to use the scoreboard - the platform number appears 15 minutes before arrival. It must be borne in mind that the name of the route will not say anything to the inexperienced passenger: only the terminal stations will be displayed, and if the destination is intermediate, you can blunder. Therefore, it is best to pay attention to the number of the composition (it is in the ticket and will be indicated on the scoreboard).

A separate topic is strikes. They happen so often and organized that it makes sense to get acquainted with their schedule. As a rule, tourists do not care much about this, but how the hell does not joke? Experienced tourists are advised to familiarize themselves with the schedule of strikes on the site scioperi.mit.gov.it. Do not advise and expect quick transplants.

Of course, the Italian railway is one of the best in Europe, but there is one peculiarity: the trains are chronically delayed (although they are everywhere delayed, in France it is even more intensive), but the cascading delay for 25-30 minutes is a local "chip".

Especially count on the delay is not worth it, prepare for planting is better in advance. The platforms at most stations are quite low, and to throw heavy luggage into the car you still have to contrive.

Railway transportation of passengers

Travelers burdened with children, it is not superfluous to know that a 4-year-old baby can be carried free of charge (only to have to be in his arms), and a child from 4 to 12 (14) years - with a discount of 30%.

There are numerous discount offers - for families, students, groups of 6 people, etc. The savings can be very significant, so it will be useful to get acquainted with the proposals.

So, if a tourist plans to travel all over Italy, he can, by purchasing a special card for 50 euros, save up to 50% on regional trips and up to 20% on intercity ones. The information is available on the official website of the carrier, and almost everyone will find the best option for themselves, if properly understands the situation. A carefully designed route is the key to a successful trip. Everyone who paid due attention to this issue was very pleased.