Lessons learned on Italian trains in Rome

[Anguillafan]

We returned from a fabulous cruise in July, and I have a few thoughts regarding train travel that I thought might be helpful to share.

 

When we traveled from Civitavecchia to Rome, the train became crowded as the trip progressed. We weren't able to see out the window at the stations, and there were people standing everywhere. We got off the train at Roma San Pietro, as planned, but we almost got off one station too soon because the crowding and inability to see made us think we had reached our stop. I strongly suggest having a list of the stops with you so you will recognize the stop before yours, and know yours is next. The stop before San Pietro has the name Roma in it, hence the unecessary anxiety.

 

At the end of the day we were at the Colisseum. We took the metro to Roma Ostiense for the train back to Civitavecchia. The Priamide metro station connects to Roma Ostiense. The problem here is the connection from the metro to Roma Ostiense is not very well marked. If you do this, walk towards the back of the metro and exit the stairs at the back of the station. At the front of the metro station there is a different commuter rail stop. Once you get up the stairs from the back of the metro stop, there is a lot of underground walking to get to Roma Ostiense, and, again, not well marked. We followed someone, but there weren't a lot of people making that transfer. As it is an intermediate station, there are trains to different destinations running on the same tracks. The train before ours was running late, so it was on the platform at the time our train was supposed to be there. We had to confirm that the train in front of us was not ours. In retrospect, I would have preferred going to Termini. It wasn't that far a metro trip from the Colisseum, and although the travel time to the track at Termini may have been long, walking through to Ostiense wasn't so short, and, it added extra stress.

 

Finally, we ended up on an earlier train than we planned. We had a wonderful and successful day, but it was hot and we were ready to return. As it turned out, the 5:11 arrival we had planned to take (for a 7pm sail) had engine problems on route. Those who were on that train were told that this is not infrequent. There were 5 ships in port that day, and a total of 70 or so cruise passengers were on that train. Probably 10 or 15 were on our ship. It appears that at least one cruise passenger took charge and made calls to the ship. The ship waited, and the shuttle ran later. We saw those folks arrive and rush on the ship at 7:10. As it turned out, a ship's excursion had bus issues, and they didn't arrive until 7:30 (they look much calmer as they approached the ship). Had there not been a late excursion, would the ship have waited? I don't know, but it gave me chills to think about it, because we were supposed to be on that train. We had two days at sea after Rome. I would have been freaked out if we had been on that train. I still believe 5:11 should be plenty of time to have made it back, but knowing what actually happened makes me wonder what I would do if I had it to do over.

 

Lydia

[maryann ns]

Thanks for posting. You have some good advice. I have walked through Termini to the tracks three times and it only takes me a few minutes. I agree it would be worth going there to keep things easy and because you could get a seat.

 

When we took the train to Civitavecchia it was nearly empty, but I did have the list of stations and it helped to count them off.

 

I guess this is another reason for two standard pieces of advice:

 

Always take the second last train that would get you to the port in time just in case something happens.

 

Always take your port information with you. This would have a number to call. Good for the passenger who phoned. I bet they would have waited because leaving a whole group of people would be poor PR if nothing else.

[Eileen G]

One thing we always do when riding the train is to ask someone on the train if it is going where we want to go. It would be very easy to get on the wrong train.

[VirtualRain]

From one of my first trips on an italian train...

 

Yeah, let this be a lesson to all... Make sure to validate your ticket (even if you just purchased it from an agent) in the yellow box. We failed to do this, and it caused a bit of a scene on the train. The conductor, who only spoke Italian, that checked our tickets threw a fit when he saw we hadn't validated our ticket. I think i it was all an elaborate act to frighten English speaking tourists. I didn't understand a word he was saying but it was clear he was demanding some kind of payment. The problem was, I had no idea how much, and I wasn't about to open my wallet for him. So I just shrugged every time he yelled at me. He stormed off up and down the train with our tickets a few times before we found a young Italian guy who could translate. It turns out the fine for not validating your ticket is 50-Euro, but he was offering to let us off the hook for a 5-Euro bribe. I gladly paid the bribe and he returned our tickets with a hand written validation. We weren't the only ones on the train, as you can imagine, that had this happen to them. There were several other couples in the same situation. My advice to Italian conductors who make a living off extorting tourists for money... at least learn how to say the amount you want in English or write it down on a scratch pad. Sheesh!

[Keith1010]

Thanks for posting. I think it is always helpful to share ones experiences.

 

Keith

[DancerOT]

One other piece of advice to add is to always ask at the train and bus station if either is planning on going on strike that day! Public transportation frequently goes on strike in Italy and it can really rain havoc. We knew that the trains were going to be on strike one particular day so we were able to plan around that without too much difficulty - we would take the bus instead from our day trip (thankfully we were backpacking and not on a cruise). However, the attendant at the bus station (in Siena) failed to mention when we bought our tickets that the buses were planning on going on strike later that day. We were waiting in Montalcino for two hours for a bus that was never going to come. Mind you there were locals waiting as well, so clearly we were not the only not in the know. We didn't find out that the buses had gone on strike until we were eating pizza in Naples the next night. Although the whole thing (including being directed to get gelato when we wanted a taxi) makes for a good story now, it was quite panic inducing at the time!

 

One other FYI, you need to validate your bus tickets on the bus itself.

[euro cruiser]

One other piece of advice to add is to always ask at the train and bus station if either is planning on going on strike that day! Public transportation frequently goes on strike in Italy and it can really rain havoc.

It is easy to assume that because it happened to us, it happens all the time. That is not, in fact, the case. In any part of Italy the actual amount of time transit is down for strikes is much less than 5%, so certainly not "frequently", but if it happens the one day you are there it might as well be 100%. As this poster goes on to say, it is a good idea to check.

 

Strikes in Italy are planned and announced well in advance. There are two places you can check, the government commission on strikes (web site here: http://www.commissionegaranziasciopero.it/) where you'll find strikes in every sector, or the transportation ministry web site (http://www.mit.gov.it/mit/site.php?p=scioperi) where you'll find transit strikes.

 

If you are in Italy and don't have ready access to a computer, the daily International Herald Tribune used to publish the strikes in their Italian edition, but I confess that I haven't looked there in years so I don't know if they still do.

[Karennella]

In general, you cannot beat the London trains and underground for being user freindly, with the maps, the announcements etc etc. But even there we were let down when we had to take a short train ride to connect with the train to Paris. The train just stopped for a good half hour and we could not get out, even at a station where we could have got a different connection. We did make it, with a couple of minutes to spare, but we were very shaken up.

On our cruise last year, at Alexandria, the held the ship for two women on a private excursion. I guess it depends on the circumstances.

[jb12]

I wonder how validation process works with tickets bought on-line ahead of time. Any comments?

[euro cruiser]

I wonder how validation process works with tickets bought on-line ahead of time. Any comments?

You can only validate Trenitalia issued regional tickets, only that specific size fit in the machines.

 

Tickets for trains with specific seat assignments never need to be validated, regardless of how purchased (for example, IC trains, or Frecciabianca, etc.).

 

Regional train tickets purchased on line also do not need to be validated, but note that they are only good for three hours after the departure time you selected when you bought them.

 

Regional train tickets purchased in person or from a Trenitalia machine do not have a specific time associated with them, so they do need to be validated.

 

More info here: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=7a3f99e8e609a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

[jb12]

You can only validate Trenitalia issued regional tickets, only that specific size fit in the machines.

 

Tickets for trains with specific seat assignments never need to be validated, regardless of how purchased (for example, IC trains, or Frecciabianca, etc.).

 

Regional train tickets purchased on line also do not need to be validated, but note that they are only good for three hours after the departure time you selected when you bought them.

 

Regional train tickets purchased in person or from a Trenitalia machine do not have a specific time associated with them, so they do need to be validated.

 

More info here: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=7a3f99e8e609a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD

I hope I'll make on my Intercity train. I have everything assigned. Hopefully I'll have enough space for my luggage

[Travel Writing Mary]

We returned from a fabulous cruise in July, and I have a few thoughts regarding train travel that I thought might be helpful to share.

 

When we traveled from Civitavecchia to Rome, the train became crowded as the trip progressed. We weren't able to see out the window at the stations, and there were people standing everywhere. We got off the train at Roma San Pietro, as planned, but we almost got off one station too soon because the crowding and inability to see made us think we had reached our stop. I strongly suggest having a list of the stops with you so you will recognize the stop before yours, and know yours is next. The stop before San Pietro has the name Roma in it, hence the unecessary anxiety.

 

At the end of the day we were at the Colisseum. We took the metro to Roma Ostiense for the train back to Civitavecchia. The Priamide metro station connects to Roma Ostiense. The problem here is the connection from the metro to Roma Ostiense is not very well marked. If you do this, walk towards the back of the metro and exit the stairs at the back of the station. At the front of the metro station there is a different commuter rail stop. Once you get up the stairs from the back of the metro stop, there is a lot of underground walking to get to Roma Ostiense, and, again, not well marked. We followed someone, but there weren't a lot of people making that transfer. As it is an intermediate station, there are trains to different destinations running on the same tracks. The train before ours was running late, so it was on the platform at the time our train was supposed to be there. We had to confirm that the train in front of us was not ours. In retrospect, I would have preferred going to Termini. It wasn't that far a metro trip from the Colisseum, and although the travel time to the track at Termini may have been long, walking through to Ostiense wasn't so short, and, it added extra stress.

 

Finally, we ended up on an earlier train than we planned. We had a wonderful and successful day, but it was hot and we were ready to return. As it turned out, the 5:11 arrival we had planned to take (for a 7pm sail) had engine problems on route. Those who were on that train were told that this is not infrequent. There were 5 ships in port that day, and a total of 70 or so cruise passengers were on that train. Probably 10 or 15 were on our ship. It appears that at least one cruise passenger took charge and made calls to the ship. The ship waited, and the shuttle ran later. We saw those folks arrive and rush on the ship at 7:10. As it turned out, a ship's excursion had bus issues, and they didn't arrive until 7:30 (they look much calmer as they approached the ship). Had there not been a late excursion, would the ship have waited? I don't know, but it gave me chills to think about it, because we were supposed to be on that train. We had two days at sea after Rome. I would have been freaked out if we had been on that train. I still believe 5:11 should be plenty of time to have made it back, but knowing what actually happened makes me wonder what I would do if I had it to do over.

 

Lydia

Lydia, when I was 21 I backpacked in Europe. We flew a charter from Detroit to London. The day we were supposed to fly home, a baggage handler strike grounded all the planes. We were lucky; our charter plane company bussed us to a lovely hotel in Brighton, and we went to see the Brighton Pavillion which was a marvel to me. They fed us good food. All the other passengers were grumbling, but we were thrilled. Two free days in England! How bad could it be? Plus, we didn't have to stay in a youth hostel. We had our own bathroom. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and so is adventure. I am done worrying about missing the boat. Lots of people do, it seems. I take my passport (I sewed inside pockets in all my pants to keep it safe) each time, and luckily the worst thing that could happen if I miss the boat is that I will have an adventure I would otherwise have missed. That is going to be my attitude. Howeveer that said I do research A LOT before a cruise and try to have a 'plan B' in case I ever DO miss the boat. I also agree that when using public transport it's best to go out to a destination first thing, then get back several hours before the boat leaves, to the nearest town and hang out there. That way you can either walk to the ship in time or take a cab.