The Italian high-speed train service is provided by two companies: Trenitalia and Italo Treno.
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Trenord is the company that resulted from a merger between the state-run Trenitalia and a rail company in the Lombardy region. Trenord trains serve primarily destinations in Lombardy – including Milan's Malpensa Airport.
Italo trains are very comparably to TrenItalia's FrecciaRossa trains. That's because, unlike TrenItalia, Italo only runs fast trains. But they mostly just connect Italy's biggest cities – Milan, Torino, Venezia, Firenze, Bologna, Roma and Napoli. There are no slower, “regional” Italo trains.
Italiarail shows a whole day's trains in the search results and can book up to 20 people at a time. Trenitalia's own website only shows a couple of hours-worth of trains at a time and can only book up to 5 people at a time.
Intercity trains are slower (and generally cheaper) than Frecce trains because they're conventional express trains and rarely use the high speed lines.
Often there is little difference in the ticket prices between the two. But even more often, TheTrainline offers discounted train tickets months in advance before the national train company itself ( Trenitalia, for example) has them up for sale on its own website.
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.
Trenitalia had already sparked controversy with a proposal that passengers in the cheapest class will not be allowed to use restaurant carriages or even venture into the more expensive carriages, prompting charges in the blogosphere and Italian media of promoting an economic apartheid.
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.
Intercity trains in Italy are run by Italian state-owned Trenitalia. Comfortable Intercity services travel between the country's major cities and towns, making more regular stops than the high-speed Trenitalia Frecce fleet of Frecciarossa, Frecciabianca and Frecciargento trains.
Trenitalia. Trenitalia is the main operator of rail services in Italy, formed by the Italian government and entirely state-owned. The types of trains that Trenitalia run can be split broadly into two categories – high-speed trains and regional trains.
Frecciarossa trains are Trenitalia's flagship product and offer passengers maximum comfort. They consist of ETR 500, ETR 600, ETR 700 and ETR 1000 models, all featuring: Air conditioning.
As far as I can tell, the Trenitalia Pass is only valid on Freccia, FrecciaLink, InterCity, InterCity Night, and EuroCity trains within Italy. The train from Milan to Tirano is a regional train operated by Trenord, so does not qualify for the Trenitalia Pass.
Some trains require seat reservations, and on other trains it's optional. If you're riding a train on which reservations are only recommended or completely optional and you don't have a reservation, you can sit in any available seat in the appropriate class you have booked.
Every passenger of Trenitalia can take luggage and suitcases on board the train for free. Trenitalia luggage policy is not strict about the number of suitcases and dimensions limit, and it doesn't require any fee or extra fee in case of overweight or oversize luggage.
First-class seating is more spacious, with fewer seats per compartment, and usually more quiet. There is more room for luggage and it will generally be less crowded as most passengers typically travel in second class.
Trenitalia Economy tickets guarantee savings and flexibility – they allow you to change the date or time of travel only once before your train's departure, you can do this by choosing a ticket for the same train type and class and paying the difference compared to the full price (Base fare).
ItaliaRail.com is the easiest and best site for booking Italy train tickets. It's cheaper then Trenitalia.com if there are 2 or more passengers. It's an online website that sells Trenitalia tickets in Euros, Pounds, and Dollars.
Reservations are not necessary on many European trains, however in some countries (particularly France, Italy and Spain), a pass or a ticket does not guarantee a seat, so reservations are highly recommended. We also recommend reservations to guarantee accommodations on a particular train, date, and time.