Hello and glad to be back planning trips. :)
We are booking a train from Rome to Naples. The regional train is a fraction of the cost. What are the differences other than speed? It turns a 1 hour 10 min trip to a little over 2 hour trip but we are ok with that. It will be August so wondering about AC. Thanks!
I took the 'slow' train on that route in 2010. It was perfectly acceptable. A/C worked fine then.
And it is only slow because it makes a lot stops. And it can also be very crowded since it is open seating - no reservations so you may find people standing in the aisles and entry ways. Should be AC and should be working.
I would have thought it was closer to three hours on an ordinary train. We used the Frecciarossa service.
You didn't say if you've got a reduced price ticket, but remember that most discount rail fares are not changeable or refundable. If you come early or miss the train, you'll have to pay the walkup price, typically the highest.
Naturally, any air conditioner is subject to failure. Our upper-class tickets from Rome to Venice or was it Florence-Venice had no air conditioning the day we took it!
I would book the Frecciarossa, your going to have luggage and on the regionale there is so much movement of people and multiple train stops it would make me nervous. Plus you get to choose your seats on the Frecciarossa, more comfort etc. Depending on how far out your booking the cost is still pretty good. Make sure you are choosing the right train stations, you want to go from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale. We book all train on the Trenitalia website (make sure to change to "hour" icon to "0" to get all train times)
I double checked and the cheapest is 2 h 48 min and the train for 1/2 is 2 hours is 1/2 the cost. We book our trains ahead of time and think we are going to book the express. Need to check when check out time of the BNB is. Thanks for the opinions.
Yes, the quickest regionale takes 2h and 48 minutes.
Note that Regionales don't use the high speed tracks and the difference in speed isn't caused only by the number of intermediate stops: they run at 120 kms/h (if you are lucky) and any other train has the right of passage (not a big problem on the Naples-Rome line, but s**t happens).
Conductors can turn the AC off on Regionale trains, and, believe me, they'll do it if many elders complain about the AC being too strong.
Regionale tickets NOT purchased on the Internet are open, but they must be time-stamped before boarding; forget it and you'll be fined on the spot.
Then comes the quickest Intercity, taking 2h and 3minutes. Intercity trains have only reserved seats and discounted tickets can be purchased up to the day before the day of departure. They are meant for long travels and finding a place for your luggage will be easier. They are listed as IC on monitors and departure boards.
The quickest train run by Trenitalia on that route takes 1h and 8 minutes, it is the Frecciarossa1000 and it's also the most expensive train in Italy if you get tickets on the day.
Italotreno.it - the private competing company - runs only high speed trains between Rome and Naples and is often cheaper than Trenitalia.
Pick the stations closer to where you are staying. I bet this means Termini in Rome and Napoli Centrale in Naples, but if you were staying close to Tiburtina of course you would enter Roma Tiburtina as departure point.
