Originally Posted by
polochick
Agree - the train carriages are tiny - what were they thinking?! Was wondering if it was going to come off the rail at one point. €9 for 7 minutes also felt a little punchy.
It only opened in 2020 so they can’t even use the excuse that it was built at a time when the airport was smaller and less busy. The only explanation that anyone can think of is that it was a dodgy contract where they massively overpaid for something that’s built on the cheap. It was even worse when it first opened and they tried to enforce social distancing. The only positive is the trains can be doubled up (but I’ve never seen that happen yet).
It’s a shame it’s so bad as Bologna is a great starting point to explore Italy by rail and I’d highly recommend it if you want to stay a bit longer. The high speed Frecciarossa trains have an ‘executive class’ which has service levels more typical of first class on a plane. There’s only 8 seats, a dedicated host and a decent wine list. Even on the 35 minute trip to Florence I managed a main course with wine. The other classes are business (more like a typical train first class), premium and standard. There seems to be no limits to what you can have (obviously subject to availability)