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Frecciabianca (Italy)
If you will be taking a journey by these Frecciabianca trains our guide will tell you all you need to know, from boarding, to making the most of the journey experience.
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At a Glance
Travel Pass Supplement
Rail Pass Reservation Fees
Reservations
Compulsory
Time of Day
Day
Catering
Food services available
Bar (sandwiches, snacks, salads)
Accessibility
Accessing the train
Wheelchair Spaces
Train Specification
Attributes of the train
Has a Conductor
Country
Which country these trains operate in.
Italy
Travel Passes
Eurail
InterRail
Trenitalia Pass
On Board
Business
Perks
WiFi
A complimentary WiFi portal is available throughout this train.
Power Socket
The power sockets on this train are compatible with standard E.U. two point plugs.
Welcome drinks:
Complimentary drinks and snacks will be served, choices will include coffee, orange juice and prosecco.
Good to know:
1. The power sockets in Frecciabianca trains are compatible only with Italian 3-pin plugs and not standard E.U. plugs.
2. As per the norm on tilting trains, the seating saloon is less spacious than those on the Frecciarossa 500 and 1000 trains
3. The Wi-Fi can be a tad temperamental.
Standard
Perks
WiFi
A complimentary WiFi portal is available throughout this train.
Power Socket
The power sockets on this train are compatible with standard E.U. two point plugs.
Good to know:
1. The Wi-Fi can be temperamental.
2. The power sockets in Frecciabianca trains are compatible only with Italian 3-pin plugs and not standard E.U. plugs.
Frecciabianca travel guide
They may be the slowest trains in the ‘Le Frecce’ family, but these Frecciabianca trains are still amongst the top tier of European express trains.
These are the fastest Italian trains that USUALLY don’t travel on ahigh speed line - so you won’t be travelling at more than 200 kmh if you take a Frecciabianca train.
Frecciabianca trains used to be called 'Eurostar Italia' trains and outside of Italy, that name can still be used.
Trenitalia assigns specific train numbers to each departure and uses AV at the start of the number for high speed trains.
However, a tad cheekily, it also uses the AV + a number format for Frecciabianca trains, despite the fact that they don't usually use high speed lines.
Routes:
The tilting Frecciabianca trains are used for the fastest trains on the Mediterranean coast route between Roma and Genova/Torino/Milano via Livorno and Pisa.
They're also used on the daily direct trains between Rome and Rimini.
Reservations (& using rail passes)
Seats will be assigned when booking tickets.
Rail pass users will need to reserve prior to boarding - reservations can be booked at ticket counters or by using Trenitalia branded ticket machines OR online on the ItaliaRail website.
More info on how to book these rail pass reservations is available HERE.
Boarding:
Before boarding check the carrozza/coach number on your ticket, which will make getting on to the train less stressful.
At some stations that Frecciabianca trains call at, there will be information screens (with a red background) on the platform/binari, which indicate where to wait for the doors to a specific coach.
Where there aren’t any such info screens, the best option can be wait in the middle of the binari and then locate your carrozza/coach when the train arrives.
If need be, board by the nearest door that you can get to before the train departs, and then walk through the train to find your seat.
There are electronic displays on the outside of the coaches by the door and they display the coach number.
All seats are reserved, so there is no need to rush, (though people tend to).
When you enter carrozza/coach what you won’t see is any indication of the stations between which the seat is reserved for.
All you have to do is look for the seat numbers and match it to the seat number on your ticket - take your time as the seat numbers can lack logic.
Catering:
Frecciabianca trains have no restaurant cars, so the only food and drink sold on board is available from the bar coach.
The selection of food (mainly sandwiches and salads) isn’t the best and queues can build up at the counter, so taking your own food/drink on board with you is recommended.
If you are travelling in 1st class, there will be a trolley service of complimentary snacks and drinks – prosecco is one of the options.
If you ask for a coffee with milk you will be served a shot of expresso with a drop of milk in it.
Bicycles:
Folding bikes can be taken on board as hand luggage.
NON- folding bikes must be disassembled and placed in travel cases, that need to be shown to the conductor, or platform staff prior to boarding.
They need to be stowed in a specific part of the train and the conductor/platform staff will show you where.
Trenitalia's guide to travelling on its trains with bikes is HERE (It is in Italian so use Google Translate to make sense of it).
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