Italo (NTV), a new rail company in Italy

Something I have particular high in my expectations is the fact they are creating a new rail company from scratch, using few if any personnel that woked for Trenitalia before. That way, we can hope, and only hope, they will have a much more professional, costumer-centered, modern approach in their interactions with passengers.

"It is the boldest, most serious effort put by a private company to compete directly against a major state or quasi-state railway. Where that happened (... Thalys x ICE ...)" Thalys a private company? Thalys is owned by French (mostly), Belgian, and German Rail. When Thalys was formed, it was politically improper for a country to run trains in another country. In those days, night trains ran through multiple countries and were consortia of the national rail companies in those countries. CityNightLine is a wholly owned subsidiary of German Rail, but is charted in Switzerland. In the old East Germany, Inter-connex, a subsidiary of the French company Veolia, has been trying for five years to compete with German Rail for the Fernverkehr business.

private company Not entirely. I note with interest that SNCF has 20%. Also, I notice that in both Roma and Milano they are using second string stations. I'm surprised that they don't stop outside the Ferrari factory, when you see who put in the most of the money. They do service Torino though so the rest of the board can get around. Thanks for putting this up, Andre, we will have to wait and see about this lot ... note that one of their partners is CisAlpino. The give away to me is that they talk about frequency and speed but nowhere make any reference to price. Also, I haven't particularly noticed Thalys being particularly cheap unless you jump through many hoops.

It's getting interesting. First, we have the new Thello night train from Paris to Venice and soon, Paris to Rome. Now we have Italo running high-speed day trains within Italy. I need to learn more about these new train runs. Thello is a partnership between Trenitalia and Veolia Transdev. Italo is a partnership made up of several companies and/or organizations. Trenitalia is not one of them but as Lee has noted, the French SNCF has a 20% interest (tied for 2nd largest investor with IMI Investimenti S.p.A. I note from the Italo website that they do not stop at Milan Centrale. They stop at Milan Porta Garibaldi. (the Thello does stop at Milan Centrale). Italo does not stop at Rome Termini. They stop at Rome Tiburtina (Rome's 2nd largest train station). At this time, I have not seen evidence that either of these two new train systems accepts the Eurail pass. This is fun stuff.

The initial timetable for Italo (NTV) services has been released. 2h50 for the fastest Milano-Roma link. One direct (no transfer required) Venezia-Napoli train in each direction. Handful of trains stopping in Roma Ostiense. A PDF of the initial timetable can be read here: http://www.italotreno.it/SiteCollectionDocuments/orari_italotreno.pdf

Any idea of a date, Andre?

"That way, we can hope, and only hope, they will have a much more professional, costumer-centered, modern approach in their interactions with passengers." (italics mine) ...and they're still Italians? ROFLM*O! ;-)

Italo trains are running already! First feedback has been positive. There are some glitches with the on-board wi-fi but customer service has been complimented by many. Other positive note is the easy-to-use ticket website, a stark contrast with Trenitalia. Some people whine about some seats not having an aligned window though, which is a common feature of all Alstom-made trains. Contrary to Trenitalia, most Italo seats are parallel-aligned, meaning they face the back of the front seat. They will introduce more trains soon and from June will have like 9 daily runs each way between Milano and Napoli.

I'm bumping this thread just to help fellow travelers planning trips to Italy to check out Italo, as I rarely see people mentioning it when answering questions about trips in Italy, assuming Trenitalia is the only rail company available, especially in the most traveled routes on the Venezia-Firenze-Roma route...

Andre, do they still not accept any passes?

No, Nigel, they don't accept Eurail/Interrail passes, and of course they don't accept Trenitalia's domestic discount cards. They are introducing subscriptions for regular users, but that will not have any impact for tourists.