I have been looking at the timetables at Trenitalia's website as I plan my trip to Italy in May 2005. Does anyone know if the schedules currently listed are likely to change between now and next May? I certainly am not buying my tickets now (I may just buy them in Italy as I go from city to city), but as I plan my itinerary I would like to have confidence that the options available now are the same options that will be available when I'm on my trip (assuming no unpredictable strikes occur). Thanks.

the options will be the same, if times change they will be by a matter of minutes - trains are so frequent in Italy, twice hourly on many lines, that you can be assured of similar times. Overnight trains of course are different, but they rarely change. European countries change schedules en masse around Dec 13, don't know if Trenitalia's May schedules are set in concrete or could change. As for strikes, they are at times endemic and generally last for 4-6 hours and are announced. Trenitalia sells schedule booklets in station kiosks that list what trains are strike-immune - almost sure to run; seems about 1/4 of trains are labeled such. Don't know if Trenitalia web site indicates what trains are strike-free. The strike-free policy, apparently with cooperation of unions, has seemed to work well now for several years.

You can put in your actual date of travel in May 2005 and the system will give you the putative schedules for that precise date.

You can check back early next year to see whether the schedules for May have changed slightly. On heavily travelled routes, Trenitalia has been INCREASING train frequencies yearly, and adding still more Eurostar Italia trains.

topping

Is there any way to find out what the ultimate destination of the train is? For example, Naples to Perugia, with a change at termini in Rome. When I get to Rome, how to know which train is the one that stops in Perugia? The only way I've found to figure this out in the past is to run over to the big yellow train schedule and see what trains are leaving at the scheduled time I have printed out, and look to see which one stops at my destination. Anyone found a better way to figure this out?

Castleton - Your way is as good as any. That's what I do if I'm not sure ...

In the case of Naples-Perugia - it depends on which changes you have en route - which you can verify from www.trenitalia.

- If Trenitalia lists only ONE change (i.e. Roma Termini) for your chosen departure time - the ultimate destination of your train from Rome is PERUGIA itself.

- If Trenitalia lists TWO changes (e.g. Roma Termini and FOLIGNO) - the ultimate destination of your train from Rome is ANCONA.

[From Foligno you then catch the connecting regional train (- ultimate destination TERONTOLA) to Perugia].

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Another idea is to use the German rail site (http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en; includes schedules for Italy). When you get the schedule details, it will show the train number. Click on this and it will show you all the stops (including origin and terminus) for the train.

Paul

Well, I tried to use that German site about 2 years ago, but it was such a horrible experience that I clicked right out of there and never returned. However, that is precisely the type of information I was hoping was available from the trenitalia site. Maybe I should just click around that site a little more. Thanks for the responses.

i USE THE gERMAN BAHN SITE ALL the time and it's usually a snap if you get the English page, good for all of Europe except spotty in Spain. Train destinations are often, but not always indicated on the placards on the sides of each cars - not that some trains split en route, so different cars may have different placard destinations. I always ask the conductor who is usually on the platform if i have any doubt. But best to ascertain through Bahn or Italian site where you train will end up, then it will be on the overhead train info signs on each platform.

Castleton: the fastest way to see the origination and destination cities of Italian trains is to consult the printed timetables on sale at newsstands in Italy.

A more cumbersome way is through the trenitalia website. You must click on the specific train number. However, it will only show you INTERMEDIATE stops between the departure and arrival cities which you yourself have entered on the screen (not necessarily the cities of origination and final destination of the train).

From Naples to Perugia, you will certainly have to connect in Rome Termini and perhaps also in Foligno.

From Naples to Rome, your train (either a Eurostar Italia (ES) or an Intercity (IC)) may originate further south, indeed as far south as Sicily. Some ES trains originate in Naples or Salerno.

There are a couple of DIRECT trains from Rome Termini to Perugia which stop briefly in Foligno. These will show up on your web search. Other trains are bound for Ancona or Rimini on the Adriatic coast, and require a second train change in Foligno. ALL these trains bound for Umbria and Le Marche originate in Rome Termini.

Look up my posting:

"Two types of trains between Rome and Perugia"

CORRECTION:

See my previous posting:

"Two types of trains between Rome and Assisi"

Perugia is 20 minutes further north on the same train bound for Assisi.

I did try that German site this a.m. and it seems it has become much more user friendly since my last try. I even bookmarked it for future reference! One thing I noticed, though, is it shows slightly different schedules from Napoli to Perugia, with a difference in Rome of a few minutes. Although it looks like I'll have plenty of time to change trains there regardless of which schedule is correct, as you all know, sometimes a few minutes can make the difference between making the connecting train or not. At any rate, this is the only route I really have any question about for this next trip. I will look for the Perugia train when I arrive in Rome.

Now, can you confirm that the Perugia Porta whatever is the main station I'll need to get off at (vs. either of the other 2 listed)?

Castleton - Perugia's main central station is Perugia FONTIVEGGE.

Hope this helps ...

Steve

P.S. The only DIRECT Rome-Perugia trains from Roma Termini are:

08.14 IR
12.14 R
13.48 Eurostar
18.14 IR
19.46 Eurostar

www.trenitalia.it

[Otherwise you will normally have to take the Rome-ANCONA train and change at FOLIGNO as I said].

Thanks, Steve. I take it the Fontivegge station has a bus outside the station that goes up to the old town? Or is there an escalator nearby?

From the Perugia train station, you can take one of the city bus lines up to the old town. Travel time is about 5 minutes. Just make sure you verify the destination with the driver. The escalators you're thinking about are at the Perugia BUS depot in Piazza dei Partigiani, with is further up the hill.