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Train fares expensive in Italy?

Train fares expensive in Italy?

Old Mar 22, 2012, 6:49 am
  #16  
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If it's a walk-up fare, you can buy whenever you like, but there are no reservations on these trains, so it makes no difference when you buy (apart from the time take to operate the machines).

How busy they are is hugely variable, although you always have the advantage that you can take a later or indirect train if you turn up relatively late to a full service. I don't know the rules about breaking a journey in Italy, though, of that's something you wanted to do.

Final point is to bear in mind that some of these trains may be somewhat, er, rustic. Not unpleasant, but certainly nowhere as clean, modern or well maintained as the Eurostar Italia services.

However, I've used them in the past, and they can be extremely useful - particularly if you want to get to/from Linate in rush hour (the rather ugly Lambrate station avoids much of the congestion...)
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Old Mar 22, 2012, 11:32 pm
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Originally Posted by stut
If it's a walk-up fare, you can buy whenever you like, but there are no reservations on these trains, so it makes no difference when you buy (apart from the time take to operate the machines).

How busy they are is hugely variable, although you always have the advantage that you can take a later or indirect train if you turn up relatively late to a full service. I don't know the rules about breaking a journey in Italy, though, of that's something you wanted to do.

Final point is to bear in mind that some of these trains may be somewhat, er, rustic. Not unpleasant, but certainly nowhere as clean, modern or well maintained as the Eurostar Italia services.

However, I've used them in the past, and they can be extremely useful - particularly if you want to get to/from Linate in rush hour (the rather ugly Lambrate station avoids much of the congestion...)
How am I suppose to know if it's a walk-up fare or not? I plan on taking the IC trains because I think it's too late to get any of the Eurostar Italia trains for cheap. I'm on somewhat of a tight budget.
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Old Mar 24, 2012, 2:42 am
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Old Mar 24, 2012, 11:23 am
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Basically, if there's no difference between the list of fares quoted (mini, base, flessibile) then it's walk-up.

However, it can be difficult to get the new website to quote Regionale fares on routes dominated by Eurostar Italia trains - I don't know a workaround for this, I'm afraid.
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Old Mar 24, 2012, 1:39 pm
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Originally Posted by stut
However, it can be difficult to get the new website to quote Regionale fares on routes dominated by Eurostar Italia trains - I don't know a workaround for this, I'm afraid.
An Italian friend kindly showed me that you can find the Regionale schedules, though not the fares, by using the Deutsche Bahn site, http://www.bahn.de (or http://www.bahn.com). It allows you to uncheck "Prefer Fast Connections" and check "Local Transport," and that will yield Regionale routes. Or you can customize further using "Further Search Options." (The checkbox for Regionali is "NV," I guess for NonVelocita.) On Trenitalia, I haven't been able to see even Regionale schedules on routes dominated by highspeeds.

A little OT: My friend told me she uses the DB site a lot because for some of her journeys that include changing from branch lines it shows routes that are actually faster, though longer in KMs, than Trenitalia does.

Last edited by Giggleswick; Mar 24, 2012 at 1:44 pm
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Old Mar 24, 2012, 1:56 pm
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Originally Posted by Giggleswick
The checkbox for Regionali is "NV," I guess for NonVelocita.
Actually, "NV" is for "Nahverkehr", which is German for "local services".

Originally Posted by Giggleswick
A little OT: My friend told me she uses the DB site a lot because for some of her journeys that include changing from branch lines it shows routes that are actually faster, though longer in KMs, than Trenitalia does.
I use bahn.de as a starting point for researching just about any train journey in Europe, as it's easy to use, has good advanced search features (like the one mentioned above) and includes pretty much all trains in Europe. (However, it can sometimes be slightly inaccurate, if for example a train operator has adjusted a service, or failed to provide timetable data around the time of the annual timetable change).
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Old Apr 1, 2012, 4:38 am
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Originally Posted by Giggleswick
An Italian friend kindly showed me that you can find the Regionale schedules, though not the fares, by using the Deutsche Bahn site, http://www.bahn.de (or http://www.bahn.com). It allows you to uncheck "Prefer Fast Connections" and check "Local Transport," and that will yield Regionale routes. Or you can customize further using "Further Search Options." (The checkbox for Regionali is "NV," I guess for NonVelocita.) On Trenitalia, I haven't been able to see even Regionale schedules on routes dominated by highspeeds.

A little OT: My friend told me she uses the DB site a lot because for some of her journeys that include changing from branch lines it shows routes that are actually faster, though longer in KMs, than Trenitalia does.
I just tried that, but it won't let me book the fare online. Also, how can I restrict the results to show only intercity routes? For example, from Milan to Venice? It's already too late for me to buy fast train fares for cheap. I think IC is the next fastest option, but cheap enough for me to buy them. These are the good value fares that were mentioned earlier right? Bahn.de does show R instead of IC (what I was expecting). Does that mean they're regional fares?

For example:

Station/Stop Date Time Duration Chg. Products Price for all travellers*
Earlier Standard fare

Milano Centrale
Su, 08.04.12 dep 17:25 3:26 0 R Tariff abroad

Choose return trip
Venezia Santa Lucia Su, 08.04.12 arr 20:51
Milano Centrale
Su, 08.04.12 dep 20:25 3:25 0 R Tariff abroad

Last edited by lsquare; Apr 1, 2012 at 4:45 am
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Old Apr 2, 2012, 12:44 am
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Old Apr 2, 2012, 4:41 am
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R = Regional train - will only have walk up fares and most people won't reserve their seats - just get on and sit anywhere. A bit like catching the subway or a commuter train. It will be easier if the train starts in Milan as you'll get a seat if you arrive early enough; if you have a choice, avoid trains that have come from somewhere else e.g. Torino).

IC = Intercity train - may have discounted fares. As stut says, you need to check the prices and see if there is more than one fare quoted (mini, base, flexible). If there is more than one quoted, then the lower one is discounted. If not, then either all the discounted ones are sold out, or they only have walk-up fares on that route.
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Old Apr 2, 2012, 11:22 am
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Originally Posted by lsquare
I just tried that, but it won't let me book the fare online.
Sorry, it seems Giggleswick and I weren't entirely clear. bahn.de can be very useful for planning journeys, as it has a more powerful search tool than many operators' websites, and has (almost) complete data for much of Europe. However, it will only sell tickets for journeys that are in, or start or end in, Germany. To purchase tickets for journeys outside of Germany, you have to go to the relevant operator's website (ie: Trenitalia, in your case).

Originally Posted by lsquare
Also, how can I restrict the results to show only intercity routes? For example, from Milan to Venice? It's already too late for me to buy fast train fares for cheap. I think IC is the next fastest option, but cheap enough for me to buy them. These are the good value fares that were mentioned earlier right? Bahn.de does show R instead of IC (what I was expecting). Does that mean they're regional fares?
On bahn.de, you can select/de-select the different train types under 'Further Search Options' then 'Advanced Selection Of Means Of Transport'. Looking at Milan to Venice on 8th April, it seems there are the following options:
Eurostar Italia ('ICE' on bahn.de): every hour or so, journey time 2h35
EC ('IC/EC' on bahn.de): 1 train each day, at 12:05, journey time 2h35
R ('NV' on bahn.de): 1 train every 4hrs or so, journey time 3h30

For fare information, you'll have to look at Trenitalia - but the info from bahn.de should give you an idea of what train options are available.
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