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Is Italo the same as ItaliaRail?

Trenitalia covers the entire country; Italo has more limited lines and also has bus service in parts of Italy. ItaliaRail, Rail Europe, Loco2, and Trainline are ticket sellers--they don't actually operate the trains.



No, Italo and ItaliaRail are completely different entities and serve different roles in the Italian rail system. Italo (officially Italo - Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori) is a private train operator that runs its own fleet of distinctive, high-speed burgundy trains. It competes directly with the state-owned Trenitalia and only serves major cities like Rome, Milan, Florence, and Venice. ItaliaRail, on the other hand, is a third-party travel agency/reseller that sells tickets primarily for Trenitalia (the state-owned operator) and sometimes other European lines. ItaliaRail does not own or operate any actual trains; it provides a user-friendly, English-language interface specifically designed for North American and international travelers to book Trenitalia tickets easily. If you buy a ticket on ItaliaRail, you will be boarding a Trenitalia train (like the Frecciarossa). If you want to ride an Italo train, you generally have to book directly through the Italo website or a multi-modal search engine like Omio. In short: Italo is the train company, while ItaliaRail is the ticket shop for its competitor.

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ItaliaRail is an official partner of Trenitalia, the national railway of Italy. We are the largest foreign seller of train tickets in Italy. We have direct, real-time connectivity to Trenitalia's schedule and reservation system, allowing us to give you the best fares and most up-to-date availability.

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Frecciarossa trains are the fastest of these, reaching speeds of up to 190 MPH (300 km/h). Italo's high-speed trains are even faster, operating at speeds up to 220 MPH (360 km/h). The AV train network connects Turin, Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, and Salerno.

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Like I mentioned above, Italo is usually cheaper than Trenitalia but because the cabins on lower-class tickets aren't the most comfortable, I'll usually consider Italo only for trains that are less than 2 or 3 hours long unless the Comfort ticket class is cheaper than Trenitalia.

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If you plan to take a high speed train in Italy, it may well belong to Trenitalia. Red Arrow (Frecciarossa) trains are the fastest and all passengers benefit from amenities like charging sockets, free WiFi, air conditioning and a food carriage.

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Using www.italotreno.it you can choose your seat from a seat map for a small fee, look for the Choose seat box just before payment. www.raileurope.com & www.thetrainline.com also sell Italo tickets with a small booking fee.

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You will be fined if you are travelling in a high speed train without a seat reservation in conjunctions with your Rail Pass. ItaliaRail can make seat reservations on many but not all trains. You can reserve all seats in Italy in the high speed network. You do not need to reserve seats in regional trains in Italy.

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Should you choose Frecciarossa or Italo? On the Turin-Milan-Florence-Rome-Naples route, Venice-Florence-Rome-Naples route and Turin-Milan-Verona-Venice route you can choose between Trenitalia's Frecciarossas and NTV's competing Italo trains. Both are excellent, you won't be disappointed whichever you go with.

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Eurail Italy Passes are only valid on the Trenitalia network. This rail line covers 10,000 miles, including 600 miles of high-speed train tracks that connect cities and towns in Italy and throughout Europe. The Eurail Italy pass includes: Unlimited rail travel in Italy for 3, 4, 5 or 8 days, within a one-month period.

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There is typically one bathroom per train car on Italian trains. On newer trains, and especially high-speed trains, they are more spacious than what you might find on an airplane and offer the same basic features as those of a plane lavatory - a flushable toilet, sink with running water, soap, and paper towels.

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There is rarely any discount for buying a regional train ticket in advance, but these are also the least expensive tickets within the Trenitalia system. If you buy your Regionale tickets online, they do not need to be validated before boarding.

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Trainline lets you choose your exact seats when booking Italian train tickets, while Omio only lets you choose a preference. (Window, middle seat, or solo seat.) They charge the same fee (roughly $2 per seat) that the train companies charge when you book seats with them directly.

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For the cheapest high-speed tickets in Italy, go for Italo, and buy your tickets in advance. If you're on a super budget, go with the regional trains on Trenitalia. If you've never been to Italy and aren't super great at navigating confusing websites with translations that might be off, book with ItaliaRail.

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Trenìt! is the most popular app to search for trains schedules and prices in Italy, available for Android, iOS and Web (www. trenit. app).

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