Adesso!
The FIERI Boston Newsletter
Edizione Giugno 2001

Italia Per Treno - Andiamo!
By Bob Yantosca

Train travel in Italy is quite good. You can get around without a car much more easily than in the US, and trains are a lot cheaper too. This series (based on the author's personal observations while traveling in Italy in May 2001) will explore train travel in and around two of Italy's largest cities, Rome and Milan.

Part I. Rome

An interesting note: in Italy, most trains (subway, local, international) run left-handedly. This means that the outbound track is the left track and not the right track. This is the opposite of how trains run in the US. Make sure that you always check the direction of the train before you get on, or else you could find yourself at the wrong destination!

If you land at Rome's Fiumicino airport, consider taking the Leonardo Express to the City center. Tickets are L16,000 (approximately $8.00), and trains run from the airport to Rome's main railway station, Stazione Termini, twice an hour.

In Rome itself, the best way to quickly cover long distances is by taking the "Metropolitana" (or Metro for short). Rome's Metro has 2 lines ("Linea A" and "Linea B"), run by COTRAL (Compania Trasporti Pubblici Lazio). The A line runs from the west side of Rome (not far from Vatican City) across the Tiber, and down to the southeast part of the city. The B line runs from the EUR complex at Laurentina to the northeast section of the city. The two lines make a kind of lopsided X, and cross at Stazione Termini, which is where you can transfer between lines, or connect with the Ferrovie dello Stato (Italian State Railways). There are no express trains on Rome's Metro - just like on the T, all trains make all stops.

Rome's Metro stations are on the whole clean and well signed, albeit not totally free of graffiti. In recent years, Linea A has been extended by 5 stops on the west side of Rome, beyond the Vatican. However, not all Metro maps have been updated to reflect this, so beware. Also, you should know that some parts of the city (particularly the southwest, south, and far northeast quarters) are
not served by the Metro. Popular tourist locations such as the Campo de' Fiori, Piazza Navona, and Trastevere can be more than a mile from the nearest Metro station. However, these sections of Rome are served by ATAC (Azienda Tramvie ed Autobus di Comune di Roma) trolleys and buses, many of which connect with the Metro at various points. If you do end up taking an ATAC bus or trolley, be careful. Pickpocketing is a common theft on Rome's crowded city buses. (In fact, bus route #61 reportedly has so many pickpockets on it, that the route has been dubbed "the wallet eater" - or at least so says "Let's Go Italy 2001").

Pickpocketing is also very common on the Metro itself. When taking the Metro, I would HIGHLY recommend keeping one hand on your wallet at all times. It helps if the wallet is in your front pocket. Ladies, you might consider holding on to your purse under your arm, since sometimes thieves have been known to steal bags by cutting the straps. If you have a backpack, try to stand with your back to a friend, or with the backpack propped up against one of the many poles that run down the center of the train. While I did not see too much pickpocketing going on, at rush hour the trains are very crowded, and people are packed in like sardines. All of which makes ideal conditions for pickpockets to thrive - so be aware of your surroundings at all times. Just keep eyes in the
back of your head, and employ a little common sense, and you will be fine.

You may have to fight your way out the door on Metro trains, as people often don't move out of the way. While riding the Metro, I would often notice that people would start to stand up and position themselves for exiting the train one stop before they actually had to get off. This is especially true as the train approaches Stazione Termini, which is a popular change point. The
doors don't stay open very long at each station - maybe 20 or 30 seconds - so you have to be ready to exit. If you have mastered the NYC subway system then Rome won't be a problem.

One oddity: the trains on the Metro B line have buttons on the inside and outside of each door, labeled "Premere per aprire la porta". You actually have to press the button to open the door from the inside to get out, or from the outside to get in. Don't just stand there like on the T and wait for the doors to open, cuz it won't happen. On Linea A, however, the trains are newer and the
doors are opened and closed by the conductor.

Two of Rome's most popular tourist destinations: Vatican City and the Centro Storico, or historic city center, are well served by the Metro. If you are going to Vatican City, the nearest Metro station is Ottaviano - San Pietro (Linea A) on the west side of the City. It is a relatively short walk (about 0.5 km) to the Musei Vaticani down via Ottaviano from the station. From the Musei Vaticani, it is another 1 km walk around the outside of the Vatican walls to St. Peter's Square. If you are going to the Centro Storico, take Linea B to the Colosseo stop and walk across the street. The Colosseum will be right in front of you.

In addition to the Metro, COTRAL also runs a bunch of small commuter trains from Rome to the surrounding areas. A famous line is the one from Rome to Lido di Ostia. In general, the COTRAL Metro and commuter trains are very reliable, but their exteriors tend to be covered in graffiti, a la pre-Giuliani NYC. This took me a while to get used to. Embankments along the rail line are likewise covered in graffiti. Although most of the graffiti is in Italian, some
of it is in English. A common word that I saw on trains was "Fork", perhaps a misspelling of another popular English graffiti word that shall remain here unspoken.

Tickets for the Metro and Lido di Ostia lines are L1500 (about $0.75). Tickets must be validated by inserting them into a timestamp machine (marked "convalida") upon entering the station. Once validated, you can re-use the ticket again within 75 minutes. You can get off at a stop, go outside, and then use the same ticket to continue your journey, as long as 75 minutes have not elapsed from the time when you first validated your ticket. Also, you can even transfer from the Metro to the Lido di Ostia line, using just one fare. COTRAL tickets may also be valid on the ATAC trolleys and buses as well.

To catch the Lido di Ostia line, take the Metro B line from Roma Termini (in the direction of Laurentina) to Piramide. Be sure to go outside and take a picture of the Pyramid of Gaius Cestius - this is an actual Egyptian Pyramid about 30 feet high located just outside the station, and, will probably be the only pyramid you will ever see this side of Egypt. Connect with the Lido di Ostia line at the adjacent Roma Porta San Paolo station. An annoying bugaboo: Roma Porta San Paolo station and the Piramide Metro station are physically connected with each other but they have different names. This can be potentially confusing to travelers. In Italy, you will notice a lot of such discrepancies with signage. Just go with the flow - you can always ask someone if you get confused.

If you are looking for an exciting day-trip, then I highly recommend taking the Lido di Ostia line to the the ruins of Ancient Ostia ("scavi di Ostia Antica"), which are situated 15 km outside Rome. Unlike the Roman Forum, Ostia Antica contains about a kilometer's worth of Roman ruins, most of which you can explore. Ancient Ostia used to be the port of Rome, but when the Tiber silted up, the entire city was covered by river sediments. The ruins were first discovered approximately a century ago, and even to this day, new archeological finds are still being uncovered. Among its structures, Ostia Antica contains the crumbling relics of family tombs, houses, warehouses, at least one tavern, and a Mithraic Temple from the 3rd Century AD. Also, some fragments of the
ancient wall paintings and mosaic floors of the buildings still exist today. And what is more, the ancient city was fed with running water, and had a sewer system!

A couple of pointers before you make the trip down to Ostia: Beware of the underpass at the Ostia Antica train station. It is not lit at all - and you get the sense that someone could lunge out of the shadows and start stabbing you repeatedly. I would avoid using the station by night. Also, be sure to stop at the snack bar on the way from the station to the ruins for a quick bite and a
couple of bottles of water. You will need the energy for climbing over all those ruins. Also, the bathroom at this particular snack bar gets my vote as "cleanest bathroom in Italy", so be sure to take that into consideration.

In Part II: So you want to go from Rome to Milan, eh? Take the EuroStar!