European Railroad Discussion > Problems with Rail Europe

I recently had a problem with some tickets I purchase on the internet through Rail Europe. I have used Rail Europe many times, and this is the first time I have had a problem. And not surprisingly it was for FS in Italy. Instead of being able to print out a ticket at home as usual, I was told to print a receipt that had a code. The code and my last name needed to be entered into one of the automated FS ticket machines at an Italian station, which would then issue the actual ticket. The receipt was clearly marked "this is not a ticket". The first time I tried this at Como, it worked after several unsuccessful attempts. But later in the trip at Florence and Milan the machines just refused to recognize the code. So I ended up standing in long "help" lines where I was told to use my receipt as a ticket, even though it was clearly marked "not a ticket". It turned out that on the trains (the Tren Italia high speed trains) nobody even bothered to check for tickets. On the other hand nobody else tried to sit in our assigned seats. So it worked out. All in all not an unusual experience in Italy, but a bit troubling when one has several hundred dollars invested in what technically has become a worthless piece of paper (the receipt). Some fellow travelers who had also purchased tickets from Rail Europe on similar trains were able to print out their tickets at home, so I'm guessing some changes are in mid-cycle.

I also get the impression that the new private "Italo" high speed trains are much better managed that the old government run "Trenitalia" high speed trains, although apparently the Italo trains have been denied access to some of the busier terminals (Milano Centrale and Roma Termini I believe....don't know the details. They use "suburban" terminals). I did not have the opportunity to ride an Italo train, but some of my companions did and enjoyed perks like free wi fi that actually worked.

JBWX



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/14 08:56 by jbwest.

jbwest Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I recently had a problem with some tickets I
> purchase on the internet through Rail Europe. I
> have used Rail Europe many times, and this is the
> first time I have had a problem. And not
> surprisingly it was for FS in Italy. Instead of
> being able to print out a ticket at home as usual,
> I was told to print a receipt that had a code.
> The code and my last name needed to be entered
> into one of the automated FS ticket machines at an
> Italian station, which would then issue the actual
> ticket. The receipt was clearly marked "this is
> not a ticket". The first time I tried this at
> Como, it worked after several unsuccessful
> attempts. But later in the trip at Florence and
> Milan the machines just refused to recognize the
> code. So I ended up standing in long "help" lines
> where I was told to use my receipt as a ticket,
> even though it was clearly marked "not a ticket".
> It turned out that on the trains (the Tren Italia
> high speed trains) nobody even bothered to check
> for tickets. On the other hand nobody else tried
> to sit in our assigned seats. So it worked out.
> All in all not an unusual experience in Italy, but
> a bit troubling when one has several hundred
> dollars invested in what technically has become a
> worthless piece of paper (the receipt). Some
> fellow travelers who had also purchased tickets
> from Rail Europe on similar trains were able to
> print out their tickets at home, so I'm guessing
> some changes are in mid-cycle.
>
> I also get the impression that the new private
> "Italo" high speed trains are much better managed
> that the old government run "Trenitalia" high
> speed trains, although apparently the Italo trains
> have been denied access to some of the busier
> terminals (Milano Centrale and Roma Termini I
> believe....don't know the details. They use
> "suburban" terminals). I did not have the
> opportunity to ride an Italo train, but some of my
> companions did and enjoyed perks like free wi fi
> that actually worked.
>
> JBWX

Rail Europe traditionally has been a high-price option for purchasing individual rail tickets. These days, for Italian Rail Travel, registering on the TrenItalia website is the way to go, where purchases of individual tickets (as well as seat reservations to complement a rail pass) can be purchased with a credit card and a print-out-at-home ticket. No need to pick up tickets at the station! Plus, the advantage is access to lower-fare buckets purchased in advance. RailEurope typically offers only standard fares.

Is there a web site go purchase Italo train tickets in the U.S.? From all I've read, it is a much more reliable and better service than the government which always seems to be on strike!

reindeerflame Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Rail Europe traditionally has been a high-price
> option for purchasing individual rail tickets.
> These days, for Italian Rail Travel, registering
> on the TrenItalia website is the way to go, where
> purchases of individual tickets (as well as seat
> reservations to complement a rail pass) can be
> purchased with a credit card and a
> print-out-at-home ticket. No need to pick up
> tickets at the station! Plus, the advantage is
> access to lower-fare buckets purchased in advance.
> RailEurope typically offers only standard fares.

I would strongly agree with this, now that Trenitalia have sorted out their problems with accepting credit cards. I too had problems with the bizarre "Catch-22" situation in which it is only possible to get the ticket printed in Italy, while on an international journey and dependent on Italian machines!

I have also been today affected by the new SNCF website system, which it seems impossible to avoid, in which the previous system of offering a range of fares and a choice of seating has been abolished. Is there an another way in?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/20/14 12:48 by spflow.

The Italo website says they accept credit cards AND Paypal

http://www.italotreno.it/EN/timetables-prices/how-to-book/secure-payments/Pages/overview.aspx

However remember that the tracks are the same ones that TrenItalia/FS run on so if the signallers etc go on strike you still have a problem.

andersonb109 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is there a web site go purchase Italo train
> tickets in the U.S.? From all I've read, it is a
> much more reliable and better service than the
> government which always seems to be on strike!


Let's be clear, this has nothing to do with "government" alone. In particular Italian industrial relations are complex, volatile, and extremely corrupt, partly as a result if the incestuous relationships between Business, the Catholic church and Government. Recent attempts to clean up (notably by the Pope and the new Prime Minister) have caused a lot of upsets in all quarters. Italo may well have been treated very badly, but we have to remember that the French government is a major shareholder. There are few angels here, and the simple notion of "Private good, State bad" is far too simplistic.

spflow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> reindeerflame Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Rail Europe traditionally has been a high-price
> > option for purchasing individual rail tickets.
> > These days, for Italian Rail Travel,
> registering
> > on the TrenItalia website is the way to go,
> where
> > purchases of individual tickets (as well as
> seat
> > reservations to complement a rail pass) can be
> > purchased with a credit card and a
> > print-out-at-home ticket. No need to pick up
> > tickets at the station! Plus, the advantage is
> > access to lower-fare buckets purchased in
> advance.
> > RailEurope typically offers only standard
> fares.
>
> I would strongly agree with this, now that
> Trenitalia have sorted out their problems with
> accepting credit cards. I too had problems with
> the bizarre "Catch-22" situation in which it is
> only possible to get the ticket printed in Italy,
> while on an international journey and dependent on
> Italian machines!
>
> I have also been today affected by the new SNCF
> website system, which it seems impossible to
> avoid, in which the previous system of offering a
> range of fares and a choice of seating has been
> abolished. Is there an another way in?


I have not personally used it, but Capitainetrain.com is frequently heralded as a user-friendly site to purchase French rail tickets. It is a private French rail travel agency with good on-line capabilities, and offers good services in English. SNCF's website is notorious for creating roadblocks to U.S. users, preferring that they patronize RailEurope, which is largely owned by SNCF.

I recently bought on line 2 advance purchase first class tickets on the Italio non-stop from Milano to Rome for €50/ticket. Deep discount and also selected seats.

Printed the tickets at home. Easy!

Italian High Speed Trains do not get the attention they should. The Trains of either service are as good if not better than other HS lines in Europe. And they fly!

If you want good WiFi you have to ultilze Italio. It's easy and it works. The state service requires an Italian phone number. Classic Italy.....makes no sense at all.

Great! Welcome to the net using club!

When you travel, please post some pictures of the NTV AGV Italos! Seems like these are still quite rare to find in comparison to many other pictures.


Harbor_Rest Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I recently bought on line 2 advance purchase first
> class tickets on the Italio non-stop from Milano
> to Rome for €50/ticket. Deep discount and also
> selected seats.
>
> Printed the tickets at home. Easy!
>
> Italian High Speed Trains do not get the attention
> they should. The Trains of either service are as
> good if not better than other HS lines in Europe.
> And they fly!

Harbor_Rest Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Italian High Speed Trains do not get the attention
> they should. The Trains of either service are as
> good if not better than other HS lines in Europe.
> And they fly!
>
I would agree that the TRAINS of both services are very nice, and our TrenItalia train from Milan to Florence hit about 300 kph. However, and perhaps not surprisingly, the customer service on the trains and in the stations for FS sucks. it is like doing business with the post office. But I guess that is almost an Italian tradition, when you go to Italy the chaos is perhaps part of the charm. While fighting the non-working FS ticket machines and long lines for customer service at Florence, I enviously noticed the separate Italo ticketing and customer service area was a separate island of tranquility within the station. Unfortunately I wanted to go to Milano Centrale and Italo goes to the suburban Milano Porto Garibaldi.

The comments about the high prices available at Rail Europe are well taken. I used it because it has been around awhile, has been reliable in the past, and happened to be bookmarked on my computer. It does not surprise me that cheaper prices (and better service) might be available at newer sites. Undoubtedly pays to shop around.

JBWX

Rail Europe is a good source of rail passes.

And, it serves its purpose for individual tickets for people who want to deal with a U.S.-friendly website, and may need the flexibility of standard tickets.

Dealing with individual European railroads can be quite a chore, especially for persons visiting several countries, and the various websites all have their individual, annoying characteristics....some allow people with rail passes to buy simple seat reservations on line, while others are limited to selling single tickets. Some allow tickets to be printed out at home; others require certain tickets (like international ones) to be printed out at a ticket machine in the departing country. There are frequent reports about U.S. credit cards not working. And, in some cases registering on a site can be a chore, as a local phone number with appropriate area code may be needed, and/or a local address. Common advice on the latter: just make up a number based on some real number you see on a hotel or other business website -- no one will be calling or writing you, anyway.

I can see why many infrequent travelers just want to deal with a single website like Rail Europe. However, there typically are lower-cost ways available now that railroads have different fare buckets for the same rail journey. Tourists going to Europe usually can make their plans far ahead of time and thus are well-positioned to purchase the cheapest seats in advance.

Regarding Italo:
This summer my girlfriend and her traveling companion used Italo for a day trip from Rome to Florence and vv; it was her first occasion of rail travel in Europe, although she has traveled on Amtrak [ NEC and contiguous ] in the past. I have these observations:

1) We had no difficulty using the Italo website several months before her trip, and booking RT tickets at a very economical price -- however, the tickets were the nonrefundable ones. The website was extremely easy to use, with suggestions for finding the lowest fares, etc. Payment was via credit card.

2) The Roma station for Italo is Tiburtina, rather than Termini, as the OP mentioned. However, Tiburtina is not "suburban" in the same sense as, say, Ouigo's Vitry -- a very valid comparison between Termini and Tiburtina would be Lyon's Perrache and Part-Dieu. In Florence SMN is used, so no problem there.

Frankly, I thought Tiburtina has some advantages: It is less hectic, and there are less riff-raff. The latter consideration I considered important for two women traveling alone, even though her companion was born in Italy and assured me before departure she could swear in Italian as well as any Rome cab driver. I did insist that they not use public transport, or at least not the subway, in Rome. Travellers with no such concerns can always use the subway between Termini and Tiburtina to make connections. Since they used a cab to and from Tiburtina, given Rome's one way streets, cab fare was probably about the same.

3) Their reception and on-board experiences were faultless. Information systems seemed to be well thought out.

As an aside, my only regret was forgetting that the new tram line in Florence terminates right outside SMN, so I neglected to request a photo or two of that.

With best regards, SZ

McKey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great! Welcome to the net using club!
>
> When you travel, please post some pictures of the
> NTV AGV Italos! Seems like these are still quite
> rare to find in comparison to many other pictures.
>
Here are some from Bologna this summer, which show some of the differences. I'm sorry that the angles are so poor - we were waiting to catch a train to Austria and so were stuck on the platform.


Pics 1 and 2: a southbound Italo service. The lower level high-speed platforms were out of action due to flooding

---

---

In contrast some Trenitalia competition

Pic 3 FrecciaRossa class ETR500 non tilting train
Pic 4 FrecciaBianco class ETR500 power cars with former IC coaches (at Verona)
Pic 5 FrecciaArgento tilting class ETR 460



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/14 13:55 by spflow.

---

---

---

Not bad angles at all, thanks for sharing these excellent pics! how elegant the AGVs look! At first I thought their designer has had a very bad taste, but by now there has been time to get used to this unusual looking contraption. This is also one of the first production vehicles with permanent magnet motors widely adapted as far a s I know.

spflow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> McKey Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Great! Welcome to the net using club!
> >
> > When you travel, please post some pictures of
> the
> > NTV AGV Italos! Seems like these are still
> quite
> > rare to find in comparison to many other
> pictures.
> >
> Here are some from Bologna this summer, which show
> some of the differences. I'm sorry that the angles
> are so poor - we were waiting to catch a train to
> Austria and so were stuck on the platform.
>
>
> Pics 1 and 2: a southbound Italo service. The
> lower level high-speed platforms were out of
> action due to flooding

Interesting, the ETR-4xx has gotten "Fressiarossa" texts to its sides too...

This is the train SBB of Switzerland never could get to work well enough to be trusted on their long distance services.

spflow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In contrast some Trenitalia competition
>
> Pic 3 FrecciaRossa class ETR500 non tilting train
> Pic 4 FrecciaBianco class ETR500 power cars with
> former IC coaches (at Verona)
> Pic 5 FrecciaArgento tilting class ETR 460

Here is the one missing from the competition too, ETR-600/610 - supposingly Fressiarossa can today be found on it too. A lot more competition will be added from Swiss direction in the coming years.

---

reindeerflame Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> spflow Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > reindeerflame Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> >
> > > Rail Europe traditionally has been a
> high-price
> > > option for purchasing individual rail tickets.
>
> > > These days, for Italian Rail Travel,
> > registering
> > > on the TrenItalia website is the way to go,
> > where
> > > purchases of individual tickets (as well as
> > seat
> > > reservations to complement a rail pass) can
> be
> > > purchased with a credit card and a
> > > print-out-at-home ticket. No need to pick up
> > > tickets at the station! Plus, the advantage
> is
> > > access to lower-fare buckets purchased in
> > advance.
> > > RailEurope typically offers only standard
> > fares.
> >
> > I would strongly agree with this, now that
> > Trenitalia have sorted out their problems with
> > accepting credit cards. I too had problems with
> > the bizarre "Catch-22" situation in which it is
> > only possible to get the ticket printed in
> Italy,
> > while on an international journey and dependent
> on
> > Italian machines!
> >
> > I have also been today affected by the new SNCF
> > website system, which it seems impossible to
> > avoid, in which the previous system of offering
> a
> > range of fares and a choice of seating has been
> > abolished. Is there an another way in?
>
>
> I have not personally used it, but
> Capitainetrain.com is frequently heralded as a
> user-friendly site to purchase French rail
> tickets. It is a private French rail travel
> agency with good on-line capabilities, and offers
> good services in English. SNCF's website is
> notorious for creating roadblocks to U.S. users,
> preferring that they patronize RailEurope, which
> is largely owned by SNCF.


You also might consider trying to access the SNCF website through a French IP address, to see if it gets around the problem of roadblocks applied to US users. One way to do this is to use the "Tor Browser Workaround" technique described near the middle of the long webpage http://www.seat61.com/NewZealand.htm. You would need to substitute "fr" for "nz" in the line of code that you edit into the torrc-defaults file, as described on the webpage. I have confirmed that this will provide you with a web browser IP address for your session in France, which might prove helpful in ticketing trips on the SNCF website.

chakk Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> reindeerflame Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > spflow Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > reindeerflame Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > >
> > > > Rail Europe traditionally has been a
> > high-price
> > > > option for purchasing individual rail
> tickets.
> >
> > > > These days, for Italian Rail Travel,
> > > registering
> > > > on the TrenItalia website is the way to go,
> > > where
> > > > purchases of individual tickets (as well as
> > > seat
> > > > reservations to complement a rail pass) can
> > be
> > > > purchased with a credit card and a
> > > > print-out-at-home ticket. No need to pick
> up
> > > > tickets at the station! Plus, the
> advantage
> > is
> > > > access to lower-fare buckets purchased in
> > > advance.
> > > > RailEurope typically offers only standard
> > > fares.
> > >
> > > I would strongly agree with this, now that
> > > Trenitalia have sorted out their problems
> with
> > > accepting credit cards. I too had problems
> with
> > > the bizarre "Catch-22" situation in which it
> is
> > > only possible to get the ticket printed in
> > Italy,
> > > while on an international journey and
> dependent
> > on
> > > Italian machines!
> > >
> > > I have also been today affected by the new
> SNCF
> > > website system, which it seems impossible to
> > > avoid, in which the previous system of
> offering
> > a
> > > range of fares and a choice of seating has
> been
> > > abolished. Is there an another way in?
> >
> >
> > I have not personally used it, but
> > Capitainetrain.com is frequently heralded as a
> > user-friendly site to purchase French rail
> > tickets. It is a private French rail travel
> > agency with good on-line capabilities, and
> offers
> > good services in English. SNCF's website is
> > notorious for creating roadblocks to U.S.
> users,
> > preferring that they patronize RailEurope,
> which
> > is largely owned by SNCF.
>
>
> You also might consider trying to access the SNCF
> website through a French IP address, to see if it
> gets around the problem of roadblocks applied to
> US users. One way to do this is to use the "Tor
> Browser Workaround" technique described near the
> middle of the long webpage
> http://www.seat61.com/NewZealand.htm. You would
> need to substitute "fr" for "nz" in the line of
> code that you edit into the torrc-defaults file,
> as described on the webpage. I have confirmed
> that this will provide you with a web browser IP
> address for your session in France, which might
> prove helpful in ticketing trips on the SNCF
> website.


Capitainetrain is, apparently, much better than anything SNCF might be able to offer.