Bari Centrale (Bari (for ferries to Patras, on to Athens))

Bari Centrale is an enormous and impressive station, which has benefitted from a relatively recent modernisation, which has also made the station easier to use, particularly for those who require step-free access to and from the trains.

(99.99% of the images used on ShowMeTheJourney were captured during our travels, but this image was taken by Augusto Aulenta and downloaded from Wikicommons.)

Four Things Worth Knowing About Bari Centrale Station:

(1) Binario (track/platform) 1 is beside the main station buildings, which lead to/from the main entrance.

(2) The left luggage office is at the far (western) end of binario (track/platform 1), turn to the left when stepping on to this track/platform from the main hall; and keep going.
There are no lockers, bags have to be deposited and collected from the staff, so you can only use this facility during its opening hours - which SHOULD be 08:00 - 20:00.

(3) The access between the main station hall and binari (platforms/tracks) 3-10 is by two passage ways, which run under the railway lines.
Neither passage way has escalator access, but the Ovest (West) passage way, which is to the right in the main station hall (as you face the trains) does have elevators.

So if your train arrives at and binari (platforms/tracks) 3-10, you don’t have to use the stairs; though you may have to walk some distance passed a set of steps, in order to reach an elevator.
The elevators will be towards the front of trains which have arrived from the north or Roma.

The Sottopassaggio, which is to the left of the main station hall (when entering the station from the street), can only be accessed by steps.

(4) Some trains, mainly the Regionale trains heading north towards Barletta and Foggia, depart from a specific part of the station named the Piazzale Ovest.
On the departure screens, if you see ‘1 Ovest’ or ‘3 Ovest’ etc as the binario (platform/track) number, then you need to follow the signs to this part of the station.
This Piazzale Ovest is towards the west end of binario 1, but it is clearly signposted.

1: Use the map above to see which hotel rooms and Vrbo rentals, with easy access to Bari-Centrale station are available.

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Stay 22 will 'shuffle' the booking services so that you can be automatically directed to its partner that currently has the optimum availability at this location.

Trenitalia, the Italian national rail company, does not have a monopoly on the train services in the Puglia region, including those in and around Bari.
The area around Bari is served by THREE other rail companies;

The Ferrotramviara (FT) is a local rail company which amongst other services provides the trains between Bari city and Bari airport.

If you step out of the main exit from Bari Centrale station, you will be on the square in front of the station.
Over to the left, you will see a five-storey white building, this is the Bari Centrale terminus of the Ferrotramviara (FT) railway; so the trains to Bari Airport leave from here.

On the signage within Bari Centrale, the station that the FT trains leave from is shown as ‘Ferrovie Nord Barese’.

The Ferrovie del Sud Est (FSE) is a railway sytem, which among other services, provides the trains between Bari and the U.N.E.S.C.O world heritage site at Alberobello.

The Ferrovie del Sud Est (FSE) station at Bari Centrale is on the opposite side of the station to its main entrance.
The shortest route from the main entrance is to use the ‘Sottopassaggio’ under the railway lines at the station, which is to the left of the main station hall; when facing towards the trains.

It’s why the signs at the station which point the way to the ‘Ferrovie Sud Est’ will direct you to this ‘Sottopassaggio’ passage way.
Though this ‘Sottopassaggio’ passage way can only be accessed by stairs, so for step-free access you need to use the longer route via the ‘Ovestpassaggio’ to binario/platform 10; and then walk to the other end of the platform.

The Ferrovie Appulo Lucane (FAL) is a local railway, which among other services, provides the trains between Bari and the U.N.E.S.C.O world heritage town of Matera.

If you step out of the main exit from Bari Centrale station, you will be on the square in front of the station.
Over to the left is a four storey terracotta and white building and this is the Bari Centrale terminus of the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane (FAL) railway; it is immediately to the right of the Ferrotramviara (FT) railway station
​​​​​​​Note that at this station the trains depart from the upper level.

Bari Centrale station is located on the opposite side of the city centre to the ferry port - porta Di Bari.

Be aware that you need to be at the port to check-in at least two hours ahead of most ferry departures - including the Anek Superfast Ferries to Greece.
So you should aim to be arriving at Bari Centrale by train a minimum of three hours before your ferry departs.

However, as the time-keeping of the long distance trains to Bari isn't particularly reliable, our preference would be to arrive in Bari as early as possible, deposit any bags in the left luggage office at the station, and then explore the city before you have to head to the port.

The THREE options for making the transfer to the port if you have arrived in Bari by train are:

(1) Walk
It will take around 25 - 35 mins. 
Go straight ahead out of the station until you reach the old town, which will be on the other side of a street named Coros Vittorio Emanuele.

Avoid the risk of getting list in the maze of streets in the old town, so turn left on Coros Vittorio Emanuele and then turn to the right when you reach the edge of the old town, on to Piazza Guiseppe Massari and then turn right again on to Piazza Feederico Il de Svevia.
At the end of the street the entrance to the port will be over to the right.

(2) Bus
Line 50 links Bari Centrale to the ferry port - bus line 20/ used to provide the service, but bus line 50 has replaced it.
It makes three stops in the port, the second stop at 'Crociere' is the terminal where the ferries to Greece should be departing from.

At Bari Centrale the buses depart from stop B on the Piaza Aldo Moro, the square in front of the station - it's show as .P.azza Moro on the bus timetable.
During the day buses depart every 20 mins and the journey takes around 12 minutes.

You can't purchase tickets for the journey on the bus, instead you can buy them at the Tabacchi stores in and around the station.
Note that there is no Tourist Information desk in Bari Centrale to assist with the bus transfer.

(3) Taxi
if you are travelling in a group, a taxi won't be that much more expensive than three or four bus tickets.

Trains operated by Italy's national rail operator don't operate between Bari Centrale station and Bari Airport, but the Bari Metro line M2 provides services that depart twice an hour during the day; though there can be gaps of up to 40 mins between trains.

The trains are operated by Ferrortramviara and the timetable for the airport trains is here.

The journey takes around 17 mins and tickets cost around €5.

If you step out of the main exit from Bari Centrale station, you will be on the square in front of the station - the Piazza Aldo Moro.
Over to the left, you will see a five-storey white building, this is the Bari Centrale terminus of the Ferrotramviara (FT) railway; so the trains to Bari Airport leave from here.
On the signage within Bari Centrale, the station that these FT trains leave from is shown as ‘Ferrovie Nord Barese.