Italy by 300 km/h Frecciarossa...
Trenitalia is Italy's national train operator, and their premier train is the Frecciarossa. Frecciarossa means red arrow, and they can reach 300 km/h (186 mph) on Italy's new high-speed lines. Nobody flies between Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome or Naples now: Milan to Rome takes as little as 2 hours 55 minutes by train, Rome to Florence as little as 1 hour 23 minutes, Rome to Venice just 3h45, with a restaurant or bar car & free WiFi. The original Frecciarossa 500s have now been joined by new Frecciarossa 1000 trains.
Where do Frecciarossas run?...
How to tell which trains are Frecciarossa 500 and which are Frecciarossa 1000: Run an enquiry at www.raileurope.com and select a train. If it says Frecciarossa1000 in front of the train number it's a Frecciarossa 1000, if it just says Frecciarossa it's an original Frecciarossa 500.
Frecciarossas have 4 classes...
Frecciarossa 500s originally had 1st & 2nd class, but when NTV's competing Italo trains arrived on the scene, Trenitalia responded by refurbishing its Frecciarossas with 4 classes. The Frecciarossa 1000s were built with 4 classes: Which should you choose?
Standard = 2nd class
Seats are arranged 2+2 across the car width, covered with cloth fabric and grouped in bays of 4 around a table either side of the aisle. Free WiFi & power sockets at all seats. There's plenty of luggage space on overhead racks which take anything up to backpack-size, space between the seat backs, and racks for larger items at the end of each car.
Premium = premium 2nd class
Identical seat layout to standard class, with identical leg & elbow room, but with leather seats instead of cloth. Seats are 2+2 across the car width in bays of 4 around a table either side of the aisle. The fare includes a complimentary welcome drink of coffee or soft drink, and there's free WiFi and power sockets at all seats. There's plenty of luggage space on overhead racks, which will take anything up to backpack-size, and space between the seat backs, and racks for larger items at the end of each car. Note that on the Paris-Milan route premium class seats are sold as standard class, without any free coffee or soft drinks.
The Man in Seat 61 says: "It depends on what prices you're offered, but the leather seats and 'welcome' drink make premium a nice upgrade from Standard."
Business = 1st class
Seats are arranged 2+1 across the car width, so there's significantly more elbow room than standard or premium (although legroom is the same), and the leather seats are roomier too. There are tables for 4 on one side of the aisle and tables for 2 on the other, the latter ideal for couples. The fare includes a complimentary welcome drink of coffee or soft drink, there's free WiFi and power sockets at all seats. There's plenty of luggage space on overhead racks, which will take anything up to backpack-size, and space between the seat backs, and racks for larger items at the end of each car.
Business Silenzio: One business class car is designated as a 'quiet' car.
Business class Salottinos: Each Frecciarossa has two fully-enclosed four-seat Salottinos (= little rooms). Seats can be booked in this if you are a small group travelling together, ideal for private meetings on the move.
The Man in Seat 61 says: "There's no need to travel Business class if you're on a budget, standard & premium classes are absolutely fine and the legroom is exactly the same. But the wider seats, extra elbow room and the ability for couples to choose a table for two, make business class a definite upgrade."
Executive = premium 1st class
Executive class consists of just 8 (on a Frecciarossa 500) or 10 (on a Frecciarossa 1000) luxurious leather reclining seats at one end of the train with their own dedicated steward. Free WiFi & power sockets at all seats. The fare includes a complimentary cold tray meal (or snack, on shorter runs) and alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and all executive class passengers can use the Frecciaclub first class lounges at all the main Italian stations. Executive class also features a 6-seat meeting room.
The Man in Seat 61 says: "Executive class is aimed at executives and priced accordingly. But if you feel like a treat (or your company is paying!), executive class is highly recommended, you won't want to get off..."
The original Frecciarossa high-speed trains. Click the interior images for larger photos...
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A Frecciarossa 500 at Milan Centrale... |
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Standard class... | Standard class table for 4. |
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Premium class... | Premium class table for 4. |
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Business class... | Business class salottino (4-seat compartment)... |
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Executive class, just 8 seats at one end of the train. | Executive class meeting room... |
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Executive class includes a complimentary cold tray meal with wine and prosecco.... | Cafe-bar, available to all passengers for coffee, beer, wine, snacks.... |
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Screens in each car tell you the train's speed, destination, calling points & next stop... | Two ETR500 Frecciarossa trains at Milan Centrale... |
Video guide: Frecciarossa 500...
This video guide shows the difference between the four classes on the Frecciarossa 500. The new Frecciarossa 1000 has the same four classes.
In 2015 the next-generation Frecciarossa 1000 entered service between Turin, Milan, Florence & Rome, and you'll now find it operating some Venice-Florence-Rome services too. Like the Frecciarossa 500 it has 4 classes shown below and a cafe-bar. All seats have power sockets. With an interior styled by Pininfarina, it has faster acceleration than the ETR500, and a faster top speed of 360 km/h (223mph) although in practice it won't go more than 300km/h (186 mph) unless line and signalling improvements are made. Incidentally, for some strange reason it's officially classified ETR400 even though it's newer than the ETR500.
Tip: You can choose an exact car & seat when using www.italiarail.com or www.trenitalia.com. I recommend avoiding cars 1 & 8 on Frecciarossa trains as Trenitalia have a habit of covering these end cars in advertising vinyls, including the windows which prevents passengers seeing out.
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Standard class seats, 2+2 across width. Larger photo. | A Frecciarossa 1000 at Milan Centrale... |
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Frecciarossa 1000 at Milan Centrale... | Premium class... Virtually identical to Standard class but with a complimentary coffee. Larger photo. |
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Business class seats 1+2 across car width, with tables for 2 and tables for 4 and complimentary prosecco. Larger photo. | In business class you can order a simple meal at your seat, around �18... |
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Executive class. Larger photo. | The Executive class meeting room... |
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Large luggage racks in every car, near your seat... | You're given complimentary snacks & coffee in Premium & Business classes... | The ultimate: Executive Class Courtesy John Hawkins. |
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Cafe-bar: Wine, beer, soft drinks, coffee, snacks, hot dishes. | A Frecciarossa 1000 arrived at Rome Termini... |
Video guide: Frecciarossa 1000...
A journey from Milan to Rome in Business Class (1st class) on the new Frecciarossa. Also see the virtual tour...
Luggage on Frecciarossa trains...
It's very simple, you just take all your bags with you onto the train. Nobody weighs it, measures it or argues with you about it. You can take pretty much whatever you can carry and you simply put it on the racks.
Anything up to backpack-sized will fit on the overhead racks above your seat, or in the recess between the seat backs. If you insist on bringing a giant suitcase, this will fit on the racks at the end of each car, just inside the entrance doors, see the photo to the right.
It's always best to keep your bags where you can see them, although they'll be perfectly safe. Theft of bags from trains is as rare as theft of airline baggage.
More information about luggage on European trains.
Information about luggage storage at stations.
Should you choose Trenitalia's Frecciarossa or NTV's Italo?
On the Turin-Milan-Florence-Rome-Naples route you can now choose between Trenitalia's Frecciarossa and NTV's Italo trains. So which should you choose? Both are excellent trains, but this is my personal take...
Comfort...
NTV's Italo is arguably the newer, brighter and more stylish train. It's carpeted throughout and has top-quality Poltrona Frau leather seats in all classes. Legroom is excellent.
Bizarrely, Trenitalia's 4-class Frecciarossas (both the Frecciarossa 500 and the latest Frecciarossa 1000) have hospital-style synthetic flooring in most classes, lacking carpet even in Executive class on the 500 - although Executive class on the 1000 has carpet. The Frecciarossa has leather seats in Premium, Business & Executive, but only cloth seats in Standard at least in the Frecciarossa 500.
However, a plus for the Frecciarossa is the seat layout, as in Standard, Premium and Business classes seating consists mainly of bays of 4 seats around a table (ideal for families or groups of friends) and (in Business class) bays of two seats facing each other across a table (ideal for couples), all of which line up correctly with the windows.
Italo mainly features unidirectional seating, although there are a limited number of tables-for-four in Smart and tables-for-two and tables-for-four in Prima, which you can select when you book, if they're not already taken.
Catering...
Italo only has vending machines for coffee & snacks in Smart class, and just a trolley with drinks & snacks in Prima, there's no restaurant or cafe-bar car and no hot food. If you like dining on the rails, you may prefer the Frecciarossa as all Frecciarossas have a staffed cafe-bar where you can buy coffee, tea & snacks and in Business class you can order simple tray meals served at your seat. Executive class on the Frecciarossa features a simple high-quality cold tray meal included in the price.
Frequency...
Trenitalia generally operates the more frequent service, running trains half-hourly at peak times between Milan, Florence and Rome. Italo usually runs hourly on the main Milan-Florence-Rome-Naples route, not quite as frequent as Trenitalia. However, both trains operate an all-reserved system, so once you've bought a ticket on a specific train frequency is irrelevant as you can only travel on the train you've booked.
Convenience of the stations...
There's now little to choose between Italo & Trenitalia as far as convenience of stations is concerned. Italo trains initially only served Rome Tiburtina which is a �10 taxi ride from central Rome, but these days most though not all Italos use Roma Termini in the city centre from where you can walk to most of the city sights and to many central hotels. In Milan, Italo initially used the less important Milan Porta Garibaldi station but as from 2016 most Italos use Milan Centrale as Trenitalia does. At other stations such as Bologna, Florence, Naples and Venice, Italo and Frecciarossa have always shared the same centrally-located stations. Map of Milan showing stations. Map of Rome showing stations. Map of Florence showing stations.
Child age limits are different... Do you have a 2 or 3 year old or a 14 year old?
Do you have a 3 year old? Children under 4 go free on Trenitalia's Frecciarossa (without their own seat), but only children under 3 go free on Italo. Under 14s go at the child rate on Italo, under 15s on Trenitalia - although with the cheapest fares there's no difference between the adult and child rate anyway.
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