gravysandwich

Message: I am up to speed on the Trenitalia website, thanks to the contributions of everyone, and a special thank you to GAC. My question however, is fairly basic. What is a non-reservable ticket? Does this mean that a ticket can be purchased in advance on the Trenitalia site (including seat assignments), but is essentially no better than first come / first served if the train is full? What priority or standing does an advance ticket on a non-reservable train carry? Are all IC and Eurostar trains reservable and all Regional trains nonreservable? I must be missing something here, or there would be no point to reserving tickets at all on non-reservable trains.

Thanks to all.

gravysandwich

ira

Hi G,

Your basic ticket is good for a couple of months on any train between points A and B.

You get on and you look for a seat. If there ar none you stand.

ES* trains are reservation only. The assigned seat is marked on the ticket. The ticket is good for that train only.

Seats may be reserved on IC and IR trains. The reservation is separate from the ticket. If you miss the train, you can take another. If you want a guaranteed seat, you need a new reservation.

Some trains (R) do not permit reserved seating. you buy your ticket and you takes your chances. These are the commuter trains, usually.

Hope this helps.

GAC

Reservable trains in Italy:

Eurostar Italia (ES)
Intercity Plus (ICplus)
Intercity (IC)
Intercity Night (ICN)
Eurocity (EC)
Eurocity Night (EN)
Espresso (EXP)

Non-reservable trains in Italy:

Interregionale (IR)
Regionale (R)
Diretto (D)

The ticket you purchase for a non-reservable train does NOT carry a seat reservation. You CANNOT obtain a seat reservation for these trains. There is NO PURPOSE to purchase a non-reservable ticket over the internet, except to avoid having to stand in line at the train station the day of departure.

Purchasing reservable tickets in advance for reservable trains makes sense, for three reasons:

1. Assuring you'll have a seat
2. Possibly obtaining a promotional rate, such as "Freedom to Travel", "Eurostar a 29 Euro" and "Sabato di Trenitalia.com"
3. Avoiding to stand in line to purchase the ticket

Hope this helps.

Betsy

GAC, could you explain a little more about "Sabato di Trenitialia?" I'm assuming this is a special Saturday rate, but there doesn't seem to be a sabatoditrenitalia.com as implied in your post. I'm traveling from Rome to either Chiusi or Orivieto on a Saturday in April and may be interested in this promo.

GeoffHamer

Note that basic train fares in Italy, and many other European countries, are calculated from the distance in kilometres. The ticket entitles you to travel for x kilometres and is valid on any standard train within the next two months. Most trains do not have reservable seats, so you just get on and look for a seat as you would on a subway or metro train. For short journeys, you can buy kilometric tickets from newsagents and other outlets which allow you to travel, say, 50 kilometres. You must stamp the ticket in the yellow machine before boarding the train.