JmVikmanis

Although we've traveled in Europe a lot, we have relatively little experience with trains. On our next trip we plan to take a train from Rome to Salerno as soon as possible upon arrival from an air flight in Rome. If we pre-book our train and something happens to delay our flight into Rome so that we can't make our train reservations, will we be easily rebooked on a later train or will we simply forfeit the money we paid for our train tickets?

Bootman4U

The train ticket itself should be good on any comparable later train. By "comparable" I mean the same sort of service such as InterCity vs. Eurostar and both types of train are on that route. The ticket is one thing and a seat reservation" is something else. The ticket for say the IC service allows you to get on the train but does not guarantee you a seat (I think with Eurostar you can't get one without the other and that's where the "surcharge" comes in..you're being charged in the case of Eurostar for a premium service).
If you miss the train you have a reservation for I would check with the ticket office at the station...for IC you can just get on the train and find a seat. There have been many EC and Ic trains I have had seat reservations for that when I boarded there were all sorts of empty seats and I just sat where it was convenient, i.e., in any UNreserved seat I could find. Often on those sorts of trains the conductor simply asks for your ticket and doesn't check the seat reservation at all.

JmVikmanis

Thanks, Bootman. It is reassuring to know that at least we won't lose our money if we develop a problem and can't make our originally scheduled train. Thanks for providing such a complete response.

Sher

Hi. Remember that although the train from FCO to Termini only takes about thirty minutes, allow yourself a little extra time.
It is quite a jaunt from the termini track stop to the tracks for most of the trains out.
In the two times I have traveled from the airport with an arrival of about 8:00am, I have never been able to make it through customs and to the Termini to catch any earlier a train then 10:30 am. Of course, I purchased the tickets at the airport. So this took a little more time than prepurchasing.
The first time, it seemed to take a lot longer then I thought it should. The next time, I was a little more prepared. This may help you when looking at the times.
I don't think you want to stand on a crowded train all the way to Salerno. So if you go with an IC train, get a seat reservation. And then like Bootman4U says, if it isn't crowded, sit where you want.

JmVikmanis

Thanks Sher. I'd forgotten to factor in getting from FCO to the train station. Good point.