Having been dealing with Trenitalia for a while, I can say that the trains themselves are relatively nice compared to other countries. That's the only positive thought. There's a a lot of the employees that show a clear misconduct. They are usually lazy and inefficient, when not outright dictatorial. One of the reasons I am writing this review is because I saw an officer treating a relatively submissive tourist that hopped in one of the last stops (he was from Germany, my friend says) because the tourist had the wrong ticket or something. Being a foreigner myself, I was somewhat offended (although I said nothing) because I think that if the German had known to speak Italian he wouldn't have been ripped off by the ticket inspector (like 20EUR for one stop! ...poor guy). And the inspector was openly disrespectful (if not insulting). This happened in the CS ES Milano-Padova train that departs Milano at 11:35. But that case apart, Trenitalia is clearly disappointing. Ok, first is the group of employees that should be fired. Even though then being government workers means they can't... I guess that's why they are so arrogant and bad mannered. But second to that is the general unreliability: lots of canceled trains, lots of delays. Overcrowded trains from Bologna. I would call Trenitalia "the shame of Italy". At least one of the big ones. read more

The beauty of Italy is you can get to any major destinations by train. Their system is pretty straightforward and very much like me, they are time Nazis. They don't wait for you. If they depart at 6:05am, you better get your butt in the carriage by then. I guess to the locals, their trains are not much to brag about. But as a tourist, it's convenient and economical. I love traveling by trains. I think it's an important part of the traveling experience because you get a brief glimpse of the environment that exists in the country you're visiting. I enjoy just staring out of the window and watch life zoom past me. It's a moment of meditation for me as well. My journey from Milano Centrale to Stazioni S. Lucia -Venezia was about 3 hours. There was a delay but I didn't mind much of it. It's nothing like being stuck in a NYC subway tunnel for 5 minutes that makes you want to scream. No, none of that. It was a wonderful 3 hours where I got to see a lot of green, animals, wineries, mountains, and blue skies. I also met a few locals on the train, who were absolutely very nice. For the journey from Venezia to S.M. Novella Firenze, I decided to do upgrade to premium. The seats are bigger and they give you snacks and beverages. The bathroom is a little cleaner too. The only problem? Loud Americans. I'm a fellow American as well but I just can't stand other American tourists. It's like when an American sees another American in a foreign country, they just feel obligated to talk to each other at an obnoxious decibel. They just get this surge of energy and adrenaline when they can sniff out their compatriots. Then they start sharing their itineraries and it turns out hey, we're all going to same damn places. Then they talk about their families, jobs, and sports affiliation. Typical small American talk becomes a whole autobiography. For me, I pretended I spoke no English even though I hardly speak any other language. Que? The one thing I don't understand about the trains is the ticket validation process. So I've read a lot of travel blogs before coming to Italy saying how it's critical to validate your tickets before boarding the trains. They have these little inconspicuous machines at the train stations where you scan the tickets to validate. I panicked the first time I boarded and realize I didn't validate it. This was from the Milan Airport to Milano Central which was roughly an hour ride. I thought I was going to to get fined once someone checks my ticket but not a single person came by to stamp or hole punch it. Whew! I guess I got lucky? But it happened again when I boarded the train from Roma Termini to Fiuminci Airport. However, a dude did come by and checked the ticket but didn't ask us whether we validated the ticket or not. So what is the point of validation? And how do they know whether you actually validated the ticket or not. The mystery remains. I get it, People have different experiences with trains. For the most part, my journeys were pretty smooth. I'm just glad it wasn't Amtrak. read more

We took the Frecciarossa from Roma to Napoli and it took an hour and ten minutes. We had business-class seats that reclined, a table between the two of us that you could enlarge, beverage service, newspapers, and it was clean. The train station itself is really easy to maneuver with giant signs and numbers all over the place. The seats were huge, plenty of luggage space and beautiful scenery on the way down. read more

Very fast and modern trains. If you buy tickets in advance, you can get nice discounts. Strikes are frequent - be aware. Also make sure you validate your tickets and check your train number before boarding. If you make an innocent mistake - expect no mercy from conductors. read more

Watch our for Trenitalia "overzealous" conductor Leavato to Monterosso looking to make some "extra" bonus money.... Customer service from Trenitalia is non existant at the headquarters level. June 16, 2018....wrote the president of railroad plus a variety of customer service persons in both English and in Italian. Not one response...... Problem to watch out for if you are using a Eurail Pass. As a 76 year old grandfather with his family the conductor went out of his way to embarrass me in front of my family and the entire train car by fining me 200 euros which is about $ 232 US. What was my error? Yes, I time stamped the Eurail pass two hours earlier. Yes, I filled out the travel diary at the bottom as instructed. What was my mistake? I asked the conductor - (Operator 000255- Stan: 000218) if I should write the date in ink on the actual ticket 04/06. Guess what? He said since I did not do it he was fining me on the spot 200 Euros for my entire family. Oh, since we were in a tunnel...he said his credit card machine would not work so it would have to be cash in Euros! I would not pay the cash and guess what his credit card machine finally worked. My guess is that he either looking for the cash or that there is a system at Trenitalia where the conductor gets a bonus or percentage of any foreign person that makes a tiny error on their train ticket. As of July 4, 2018 still waiting to hear from anyone at Trenitalia......but my confidence level of expectation is low! read more

Took the train 88 on 15/4 from Bologna to Verona - the train doors where closed and since I am not a frequent train traveler I ask the lady that checks the tickets for help- she had the worst attitude and tried to humiliate me because I didn't know how to open the train door. People that works in public services should definitely use manners and be kind. read more

THIS IS BY FAR ONE OF THE WORST TRAIN SERVICES EVER! You are put on hold forever and no one comes on the line on customer service. They lie on the recording telling you to hold 3 minutes and not lose your place in line to talk to a rep. Then a recording comes on after 3 minutes telling you to leave your name and phone number for a call back due to their lying of keeping you on hold. Their reps speak horrible english and their accent is too strong to even understand them. They're hot headed and lose their tempers quickly and don't listen to customers when you talk to them in person. Their online chat doesn't work and is constantly offline during working hours. Do yourself a favor and stay away from Italy and this horrible train service. You will be sorry if you come here. I have never seen such dishonest, unethical business in my life. read more

This review is from Venice (S. Lucia) to Florence , when we purchased the seats we specifically requested two seats next to each other and when we got our ticket we couldn't find the number so we sat In seats as close to where we requested and waited for an Attendant to tell us where our seats were, he glanced at our tickets and said the train was full so we should shit anywhere. So we stayed in place, in the next stop however, a couple came in and asked us to move and showed us a ticket showing we were in their seats. We told them what the attendant told us and told them if they asked the attendant and he could find us our seats we would be happy to move. He came over and instead rudely yelled at us to move out of their seats and go in our own, we calmly reminded him what he said earlier and he said that now we should go to our own seats . upon asking for assistance to where our seats were he pointed out that our seats were not only not next to each other, they were in completely separate cars! We were so livid that this happened especially since we paid extra to sit first class (63.00 €) and we were not getting what we paid for at all! We had to sit separately the entire way there. read more

Too expensive, internet doesn't work. They ask for too much information to have free internet which is supposed to be included. Seats for one person are cornered. Bathrooms are terrible, super small, no soap, no water. Too expensive for what they offer. Trains should be cheap due to all the people who travel. Plus, there should be better food to eat. Not just crap. read more

As unexperienced Americans...we took this train from Venice (Santa Lucia) to Rome Termini (closest to city center0...it was FANTASTIC! If you are traveling as a family, as we were...note that their seats are two facing two with a table in the middle! This lends itself to bringing a lovely sack lunch to share as well as a card game or two...and much much more legrooom! Although the price of Italo (the new train system) was a fraction cheaper, the offerings of this train were hands down worth the extra total of $50 to make our travel the most fun we could possibly have. It was one of our favorite things we did, believe it or not! Look forward to another fast train ride from Trenitalia!! read more

Worst website ever to "try" and book a train ticket.... Don't even bother using their online website. If you think it is easier to book your train tickets online through Trenitalia, think again. Every time I have to use their website, the site crashes and cannot complete my simple request to book a train ticket. Even if you try to write a complaint through the Trenitalia website, the system crashes once again (what a surprise...). read more

I would agree that the train's customer service is pretty bad. If you make the slightest mistake you will be fined and customer service is unwilling to work with you or help. Bad experience overall. read more

Had the most awful experience today! we went straight from Bologna airport to the train station, where a helpful attendant took us through buying a ticket to Ravenna from a machine, and directed us to Platform 10. Not a word about "validating" the ticket, nor, to be fair, did we bother to read the very fine print on the back of the ticket. Anyway nemesis arrived in the form of Cristian D. (see photo) who took sadistic pleasure in fining us 65 EUR each for travelling with non-validated tickets. He could have treated it as forgetfulness (5 EUR fine if you tell the conductor), but the spirit of Mussolini is alive and well and there went our budget for the trip, nearly. But what really hurt was the unfriendly and absolutist attitude: even in Germany I believe there would have been some compensation for ignorant tourists fresh off the plane. Not the way I remember Italy: hopefully just one sour apple in what is usually one of the sweetest barrels around. read more

Absolutely terrible. I am currently living in Italy to study in college. I had booked a train in the morning, come to find out my friends father had passed away. Talked to a woman over chat and she said to call the number and they would refund me for my circumstance. Get on the phone and the guy was not understanding what I was saying and yelled at me and so he just hung up the phone. I am a student who cannot be affording to buy so many tickets and I just wanted to be able to use it on another day in the future when I figure everything out with the friend who's dad had passed. read more

We've had a very positive experience with Trenitalia! The trains're comfortable, but above all, we're pleasantly surprised by the quality of service. The Trenitalia employers, both station officers and conductors, were really very helpful. We travelled from Catania to Syracuse in September 2015. Although our train was late for about an hour, the Trenitalia employers in both cities were extremely helpful and assisted us in getting to our destination only about 10 minutes behind schedule. They helped us get on a different train in Catania and then change the trains in Syracuse so that we could arrive with only a small delay! read more

we spent 3 weeks here all over Italy! Had 3 different train trips booked, the stretch from Rome to Naples was amazing! Nice polite waiters on train. Then stretch from florenza to Venice train #9616was so discussing the Italian chick ( want to be blonde waitress so rude!) she walked right buy us when serving drinks would not acknowledge us or offer any drink / then when train stopped at next stop and picked up more passengers ! She came bye for second time and we had to MAKE HER SERVE US! She was furious she practically threw the drinks in our face and rolled her eyes when I asked for a drink! ( we are CDNS and we've been told buy many Italians how much the ITALIANS DIS LIKE the AMERICANS! For a country that has poor employment you'd think you'd take better care of the tourist that pay their wages! This country needs a course on CUSTOMER SERVICE! ! We've learned that many jobs are unionized including TRAIN STAFF we don't want to return to ITALY! It's been great for some food some wine and history! We will share our experiences with our friends at home! read more

Our family from the US just returned from a trip to Italy where we utilized Trenitalia to travel round trip from Rome to Naples. With huge crowds and a language barrier, we missed our return train from Naples to Rome where we were scheduled to take a flight home. We reported to the Trenitalia office at the train station in Naples to inquire how to get on the next train. We were issued a number to stand in line and wait for our turn to be assisted. We did so patiently even though we were pressed for time to make our flight. When our number was called, the attendant told us that he was the "wrong line" to assist with rebooking a new reservation, told us our tickets were completely invalid and crumpled them in his hand. Then, told us we had to get another number to wait in line again. Completely dismissed us and zero concern. With the clock ticking, we decided that a machine/kiosk would be a safer bet than the "customer service reps" and luckily we were able to navigate the purchase and new reservations in that manner. Ran to our train and made our flight in Rome. Make no mistake, if you have ANY issues with your travel do not expect assistance from their customer service. Be prepared for surprises when traveling abroad and leave time to figure it out by yourself. read more

We are currently on our europe getaway with my sister and my parents and we rode trenitalia from rome to florence and back. While going back to Rome for our trip to Paris the next day, they checked our tickets and reservations. We bought a ticket that we can use for 10 train rides and my mom forgot to write the date of our travel. The personel said we have to pay 50 euros each (so thats like 200 euros because were four) just because my mom forgot to write the date on the 10th ride. The personel said that we have to pay for the tax because we might be traveling for already 50 days or something. I mean you clearly have to fill up a date so that you wont exceed and we are on our 6th train ride. So we asked the information after we hopped off the train if we really need to pay for the tax and they asked the train manager if its really a violation and they said yes! Because we might be on our 50th ride already. I mean how can we travel without the personel stamping it? Thats pretty stupid and its 200 euros and thats a lot. I wont miss trenitalia for that matter. read more

My family and I rode the Trenitalia from Rome to Milan last Sept. 28, 2015 at 12nn to arrive at 2.55 pm in Milan. We were satisfied with what we saw and the condition of the train until I went to the toilet and while I was using it a mirror at the back of the toilet seat dropped on my head and created a big lump. We were lucky to have an english speaking doctor who sat beside us to help us interpret my situation because I am taking blood thinner for several months already when the accident happened. Sure they had me brought to hospital via their ambulance but left me without any assistance in the hospital. We are English speaking tourists and we were already on our way home to the Philippines when this incident happened. We do not know what liability this train has on their passengers experiencing accidents on board their train. I have a photocopy of the ambulance report and a medical certificate from private hospital In Rozanno which was paid by the medical insurance I paid for during my travel. I hope someone will enlighten us. Effects of this accident may not appear instantly, and I hope I will be safe, but never the less, if not for me,, for others who will be victims, I hope someone will comment on this. Maria Socorro Villariba read more