Content
Intercity Notte (Italy)
If you will be taking a journey by Intercity Notte trains our summary will tell you the key things you need to know, from boarding, to making the most of the journey experience.
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At a Glance
Catering
Food services available
Trolley Service:
Train Specification
Attributes of the train
Has a Conductor
Travel Comforts
Power Socket
Reservations
Compulsory
Time of Day
Night
Travel Pass Supplement
Rail Pass Reservation Fees
Country
Which country these trains operate in.
Italy
Travel Passes
Eurail
InterRail
Trenitalia Pass
On Board
Cabine Excelsoir ( 1 or 2 bed sleeping cabin)
Perks
Power Socket
The power sockets on this train are compatible with standard E.U. two point plugs.
Echoing that these are Italian overnight trains, on boarding into these 'Deluxe' sleeping cabins, passengers are greeted with a complimentary glass of prosecco, along with some complimentary snacks.
These cabins have two beds; though when travelling with single occupancy, one of the beds will be folded away out of use.
The beds are arranged on top of each other, like bunks.
Also included with the price of a ticket, or a rail pass reservation fee are:
- Hygiene kits;
- comfortable pillow with sealed pillowcase, cotton sheets, duvet and duvet cover and towel (the cabins are sanitised and the linen is freshly prepared for each departure);
- a complimentary bottle of water;
- a light breakfast served in the cabin (of the type typically available in Italian hotels).
The features of the cabin:
- A shower (only available in these Excelsoir cabins)
- Private toilet with wash basin
- Reading lamps
- Clothes hangars
- a lock on the door
- a button to summon the attendant (though when boarding the attendant will arrange the time of your alarm call, so that you can be sure of being up in time to leave the train at your station call).
The features of the train:
- a trolley service of drinks and snacks (items are not complimentary)
- an on board cleaner
- air-conditioning
Though be aware that when SMTJ looked up multiple journeys on each Intercity Notte route, these Excelsoir cabins were only available on the Roma - Napoli - Palermo route.
SMTJ suspects that their availability may have been compromised due to the pandemic, so hopefully they will be more widely available from summer 2022.
Links
Vaggoni Letto Deluxe (1 or 2 or 3 bed sleeping cabin)
Perks
Power Socket
The power sockets on this train are compatible with standard E.U. two point plugs.
These cabins have three beds; though when travelling with single occupancy or will double occupancy, the unused beds will be folded away out of use.
The beds are arranged on top of each other, like bunks.
Included with the price of a ticket, or a rail pass reservation fee are:
- Hygiene kits;
- comfortable pillow with sealed pillowcase, cotton sheets, duvet and duvet cover and towel (the cabins are sanitised and the linen is freshly prepared for each departure);
- a complimentary bottle of water;
- a light breakfast served in the cabin (of the type typically available in Italian hotels).
The features of the cabin:
- Wash basin
- Reading lamps
- Clothes hangars
- a lock on the door
- a button to summon the attendant (though when boarding the attendant will arrange the time of your alarm call, so that you can be sure of being up in time to leave the train at your station call).
The features of the train:
- a trolley service of drinks and snacks (items are not complimentary)
- an on board cleaner
- air-conditioning
Cuccetta Comfort (couchette)
Perks
Power Socket
The power sockets on this train are compatible with standard E.U. two point plugs.
Four berths are available.
Included with the price of a ticket, or a rail pass reservation fee are:
- a sealed and disinfected bed linen set with freshly laundered blanket, sheets, pillow and pillowcase; you can unpack these and used them as you wish.
The features of the cabin:
- Reading lamps
- a lock on the door
- a button to summon the attendant (though when boarding the attendant will arrange the time of your alarm call, so that you can be sure of being up in time to leave the train at your station call).
The features of the train:
- a trolley service of drinks and snacks (items are not complimentary)
- a hygiene kit, which can be purchased on board (included when booking a sleeping cabin)
- an on board cleaner
- air-conditioning
Links
Intercity Notte travel summary:
These trains convey:
- Deluxe sleeping cars with showers (Cabine Excelsoir)
- Standard sleeping cars (Vagonni Letto Deluxe)
- Couchettes (Cucceta comfort)
and on some routes ordinary seated coaches of the type used on daytime Intercity services.
Though a key difference with the daytime services is that a catering trolley is available to all travellers on these Intercity Notte services.
Routes:
The ↔ symbol indicates which part of the journey is overnight.
(1) Roma ↔ Trento - Bolzano; Fri and Sat only (no seats)
(2) Roma ↔ Venezia/Venice - Treviso - Udine - Trieste
(3) Roma - Napoli ↔ Lamazia Terrme - Messina - Palermo (no seats)
(4) Roma - Napoli ↔ Lamazia Terrme - Messina - Taormina Catania - Siracusa (no seats)
(5) Milano - Parma - Bologna - Firenze ↔ Messina - Palermo and Siracusa (no seats)
(6) Torino - Milano - Genova ↔ Napoli - Salerno
(7) Torino - Milano Porta Garibaldi - Bologna - Firenze - Roma Tiburtina ↔ Villa San Giovanni - Reggio di Calabria (no seats)
(8) Torino and Milano - Piacenza - Parma - Modena - Bologna - Rimini ↔ Bari - Lecce (no seats)
(9) Roma ↔ Bari - Lecce on Sundays only (no seats)
(9) Lecce - Bari ↔ Roma on Sundays only (no seats)
Booking tickets for the sleeping cabins and couchettes:
Trenitalia has taken as simple as can be approach to booking the sleeping accommodation on its night trains.
If you will be travelling alone you will only be offered 'Uso exclusivo' in the couchettes and sleeping cabins, meaning that you will be the occupant of the couchette compartment or the type of sleeping cabin you choose.
The price you will then see (at top right) is the total price, Trenitalia doesn't split the price into journey + accommodation type.
When two people are travelling together you can opt to book 2 x Uso esclusivo, which means a separate cabin for each of you, or select 'Doppia' if you want to share the same couchette compartment or sleeping cabin.
The price per person will be around 15-20% cheaper than sole occupancy; which means that solo travellers can benefit from particularly good value for money, compared to other night train services.
When three people are travelling together in the couchettes or 'Letto' sleeping cabins, you can select Uso esclusivo for three separate cabins, or 'Tripla' if you want to share.
There are checks built into the system, so that you can't make an error such as booking 1 x Uso exclusivo and 1 x 'Doppia' if you do want to share.
Using InterRail and Eurail Passes:
Prior to arrival in Italy reservations for the Intercity Notte trains can be purchased, without payment of a booking fee, by using the
ItaliaRail reservation service:
The reservation fees on ItaliaRail are seeming sold at these 'flat rates' irrespective of distance; and the same rates are available regardless of whether you will be travelling with a 1st class or a 2nd class pass:
- Seats = €3 (not available on most Intercity Notte routes, see above)
- A bunk in a 4 berth couchette (Cucceta Comfort) compartment = €39 per person
- A bed in a 3 berth Vaggoni Letto Deluxe cabin = €47 per person
- A bed in a 2 berth Excelsoir cabin (with shower) = €56 per person
These rates are approximately 50% of the cost of booking tickets for sole occupancy of the accommodation; which is a better deal for Eurail and InterRail pass users compared to how rail pass reservations are typically sold on night trains.
In particular two 2nd class per users can pay €56 per person to share a 'luxury' sleeping cabin with a shower; while on the international Nightjet trains from Italy, the equivalent accommodation costs around €100 per person.
However, if you will be travelling alone or in a party which can't be divided neatly by 2, 3, or 4, the terms on ItaliaRail make it clear that you will be sharing a cabin with another rail pass user(s); though the accommodation will be segregated by male/female.
ItaliarRail doesn't seemingly offer sole occupancy reservations at all.
The price info on the InterRail/Eurail reservation services suggest that the reservation fee of sole occupancy in an Excelsoir cabin is €122, so presumably they can be booked on the reservation service.
Though once you add in the daily cost of using the pass, this fee is typically more expensive than booking tickets for sole use of an Excelsoir cabin; and it will be more expensive than booking a ticket for sole occupancy of a Vaggoni Letto Deluxe cabin.
Another thing to watch out for is that presumably because these flat rate rail pass reservation fees can be good value, they're not seemingly available on all Intercity Notte routes.
In particular on the longer north <> south routes ItaliaRail only tends to offer departures which require a connection; which therefore often requires two sets of reservation fees, despite direct trains being available.
On ItaliaRail, the Roma <> Trieste InterCity Notte service isn't seemingly available for rail pass reservations at all.
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