The slowest trains of the Italian railway system

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Interregionale, Regionale and Diretto Trains

The Interregionale, Regionale and Diretto trains travel shorter distances and are slower and, especially during the peak hours, not very comfortable. On these trains it is sometimes even difficult to find space to stand in the gang-paths, since tickets are sold whether there are seats left or not.

The reason for this is that the tickets for these trains can be bought up to 2 months before your actual travel date. You will have to validate them by stamping them in one of the small yellow machines you can find attached to the pillars at the beginning of each track.

Slow Travel Movement

These kind of trains are the favorites of the so-called Slow Travel movement, since traveling on them gives the tourist, or traveler, a chance to meet with the locals. Italy is a beautiful country and there are many railway stretches where it can definitely be enjoyable to travel as slowly as possible (the cliffs near Cinqueterre, or the Tuscany part of the trip between Florence and Rome), but if you choose the wrong moment to travel you might well end up finding out that local armpits have a lot more in common with your own than you might expect.

Some useful tips for train travelers in Italy

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Validate your ticket

1. Don’t ever forget to validate your ticket before boarding the train. You do this by sticking it into the yellow machines at the beginning of the tracks. If there are no machines or they refuse to function (a regular occurrence) or you simply forget, you need to write the date you are traveling and your departure station on the ticket before the conductor comes by.

Food and drinks

2. Take food and drinks with you on the longer stretches of the Espresso trains, since there are no food trolleys or restaurants on the trains.

Pay attention to your luggage

3. Although the Eurostar trains have special compartments for your luggage, it is advisable to keep as many of your belongings as possible with you.