Train ticket in Rome
 

I'm hopping on the EuroStar Italia from Rome to Venice and already have my ticket with reservation. Do I still have to check in at a ticket window or do I just board the train and someone will take my ticket or validate it on board? This is my first trip to Europe and I'm not sure and either was my travel agent at AAA. Thanks!!!!!

You do not have to go to a ticket counter, but do remember to "convalidare" or stamp your ticket in one of the yellow machines at the beginning of each track before boarding your train.

If your ticket is for a specific train on a specific date and for a specific time (all of this printed ON the ticket) then there is no need to validate the ticket in one of the machines....those are only needed if you have some sort of "open" ticket that could be used on a variety of dates.

Sorry, but TopMan is wrong. There is nothing in the rules and regulations of Trenitalia to indicate that there is ANY kind of ticket that does not have to be stamped.

If you do not stamp your ticket for a reserved seat on a particular train before boarding and the conductor does not come through -- as has frequently been the case for me, particularly on Eurostar trains -- what is to stop you from claiming a refund for the ticket?

ALL tickets must be stamped by the passenger in one of the machines before boarding the train. If the ticket is found not to have been stamped, the conductor will levy a fine.

I just want to second what Eloise said. ALL tickets have to be stamped. I really forgot to do this once - and everything was on the ticket - train number, reserved seats etc. and the conductor was really dificult. I struggled to convince him I was a tourist and did not do this deliberately.

We had a Eurail Selectpass that we used when we were in Italy in March and we never got it stamped. We did have to get it validated on the first date of use in the first station we used it, but after that we just wrote in the date we were using it in ink and when the conductor came by he would look at it and then hand it back.

As I mentioned, this was a Selectpass, but I wanted to mention it because I don't think that all tickets have to be validated with a machine, perhaps just certain ones?

To be perfectly clear: A single TICKET from Destination A to Destination B must be stamped; a PASS, which allows travel on a certain number of days during a certain period, is, by definition, not a ticket, and it does not have to be stamped prior to each leg of the trip, although it has to be validated, as mentioned above, before boarding the first train.

Sorry, when you said that all tickets had to be validated it kind of confused me since mine didn't (I thought my pass was basically a ticket) so I wanted to post. A lot of people seem to get confused with the train system so I wanted to let people know that if they had a Eurail pass knew that they did not have to get it validated before boarding the train, except before the first use.

Thanks,
Tracy

Eloise: may I refer you to the Trenitalia website (in Italian), "Viaggi e Vantaggi", "Treni Nazionali", "Eurostar":

"non e' necessario convalidare il biglietto prima della partenza"

Eurostar tickets need not be validated, although there is no problem doing so, and most travellers (including Italians) do indeed validate them.

This rule applies only to Eurostar tickets, and not to Intercity train tickets, even if seats are reserved.

BTW, a Eurostar ticket can be refunded up to 24 hours after train departure, but the ticket holder forfeits 50% of the ticket price, and the refund must be requested from the ticket office of point of origination. So the likelihood of someone trying to defraud the railways is slim.

So am I to understand then, that since I already have my ticket (not a pass) plus reservation, I don't have to go to the window, just have it validated in the machine before boarding? If this is still wrong, please let me know.

Addendum to my previous posting: I am speaking only to Eurostar Italia train tickets within Italy. I have no idea what the validation rules are outside of Italy.

kastarkey: you don't need to "check in" at a ticket window. Just board your Eurostar Italia train at the correct time. Make sure you board the correct railcar and sit in the correct seat shown on your ticket. You might want to double check the actual departure time, although the schedule should not have changed. If you wish, you can also validate your ticket in the yellow stamping machine at the foot of the track (this might make you feel more at ease). By validating the ticket, you will have a record of the train station and date/time of boarding, in case you save your ticket as a memento.

Hi Kas,

GAC is correct. If you have your ticket and your seat reservation you do not have to do anything but have it with you when the conductor comes by.