Using the train in Rome is my favorite way to travel around the city. If you can navigate the city by combining trains and metro, you will be saving plenty of commuting time. This is because even though buses have their lanes, they also get stuck in traffic while trains and metro don’t.
Across Rome, there are several train stations and the city is crossed by many railways. Taking the train in Rome is a very handy way of moving around, especially if you have your hotel outside of the city center.
Also to reach popular areas such as Trastevere and the Vatican, relying on the train will make things easier than with the buses. Additionally, learning to combine trains with metro and trams will make you a pro in navigating Rome.
Below is a full guide to taking the train in Rome, from how to buy your tickets to the main railways to the most important stops for tourism reasons.
How to use the train in Rome – Tips & Tricks
Understanding Rome’s railway system
Very few things in Rome are easy to handle, and the train system, unfortunately, is not one of them. However, since it’s very widespread and one of the fastest ways to move around the city, I suggest taking some time to delve into it.
First and foremost, understand the different railways and routes. Rome has eleven urban railways, each of them calling at different stations, sometimes overlapping, especially when they are important stations such as Tuscolana, Tiburtina, Ostiense, Trastevere, San Pietro, and obviously Termini. NOTE: in these routes, the urban fare is valid only inside Rome’s municipality.
Here is a list of all the railways and their stations:
- FL1 goes from Orte to Fiumicino Airport FCO and back. This is one of the trains many travelers take to and from Fiumicino as it stops in many popular stations including Trastevere, Ostiense, Tuscolana, Tiburtina, and Roma Nomentana (metro B1). The urban fare is valid on the trait between Fiera di Roma and Settebagni. To get to Fiumicino from Rome with this train, the cost is €8 per person.
- FL2 goes from Roma Tiburtina to Tivoli. The urban fare is valid between Tiburtina and Lunghezza. To reach Tivoli, the cost is €3.
- FL3 goes from Roma Tiburtina to Viterbo Porta Fiorentina. This train comes in two versions: “regionale” (R) and “regionale veloce” (RV). When you see R, you can assume it stops in every station, while the RV, which means fast regional, skips the smaller stations such as Ottavia, Balduina, and Gemelli, and only stops in the busiest ones such as Trastevere, San Pietro, and Valle Aurelia. From Valle Aurelia, it goes straight to either La Storta or Anguillara and then proceeds to Viterbo. The urban fare of €1 on this train route is valid between Tiburtina and Cesano di Roma, after which, the price starts to increase. FL3 is very interesting because you have several overlapping stations: Trastevere where you can change with FL1 (Fiumicino) and FL5, Tiburtina (FL2 and metro B), Tuscolana (metro A), Ostiense (metro B and Roma-Ostia Lido), and Valle Aurelia (metro A).
- FL4 develops into three branches and connects Roma Termini to Velletri, Albano Laziale, and Frascati. From Roma Termini, you need to get off in Ciampino and from there, you change the train depending on your final destination. This train takes you to Castel Gandolfo, so the one to take in Ciampino if you want to visit the Papal summer residence is the train towards Albano Laziale. The urban fare ends in Capannelle.
- FL5 connects Roma Termini to Civitavecchia and is the train I used to take when I was in university and had to embark on the ferry to Sardinia. This train stops at many important stations in Rome such as Tuscolana, Ostiense, Trastevere, and San Pietro. It also stops in Roma Aurelia not to be confused with Valle Aurelia. FL5 is the line to take for many of the beaches near Rome such as Fregene, Santa Severa, and Santa Marinella.
- FL6 connects Roma Termini to Cassino calling at several other smaller towns in between such as the wonderful Anagni and Frosinone. This line is ideal for taking some day trips from Rome and exploring the Lazio region. The urban fare ends in Capannelle.
- FL7 – Ferrovie Laziali. This railway serves several towns in the Lazio region connecting Roma Termini to Minturno-Scauri calling at stations like Formia-Gaeta, Latina, and Fondi-Sperlonga. The urban fare is only for two stops and ends in Torricola.
- FL8 gets you from Roma Termini to Nettuno across towns like Pomezia, Aprilia, and Anzio. As for FL7, the urban fare is only for two stops and ends in Torricola.
- Roma-Ostia Lido connects Rome to the Ostia beach and also the Ostia Antica archaeological site. The train departs from Roma Porta San Paolo (next to Piramide metro station) and stops in many urban stations such as Basilica di San Paolo, EUR Magliana, Acilia, and Castel Fusano all the way to Cristoforo Colombo. The urban fare covers the whole route.
- Roma-Civita Castellana-Viterbo has two routes both of them leaving from Flaminio in the city center near Flaminio metro line A but one strictly urban and one reaching Viterbo. The urban route goes from Flaminio to Montebello calling at Acqua Acetosa, Campi Sportivi, Grottarossa, Saxa Rubra, and La Giustiniana among others and the urban fare covers the whole trait. The extra-urban route runs all the way to Viterbo calling at beautiful smaller towns such as Sacrofano, Castelnuovo di Porto, Morlupo, Fabrica di Roma, Corchiano, and Vitorchiano. The urban fare is valid from Flaminio to Sacrofano.
- Termini Laziali-Centocelle is also an urban route from Roma Laziali near Roma Termini train station to Centocelle going through stations like Porta Maggiore, Ponte Casilino, and Tor Pignattara.
Most popular train stations in Rome
There are many train stations in Rome where you can get off to reach central landmarks either on foot or by combining different means of public transportation. Here are some of the most popular:
- Roma Termini. This is the main train station in Rome, a major bus hub, and where metro A and B overlap. From here, you can take high-speed trains to other cities and regions, and also other urban trains to other stations in the city. Roma Termini is also one of the favorite stations to take the Leonardo Express to Fiumicino Airport FCO.
- Roma Trastevere. This is a very popular station because Trastevere is a famous neighborhood and from the train, you can reach the touristy part with a few tram stops or in about 20 minutes on foot. From this station, you can take the train to Fiumicino
- Roma Ostiense. Ostiense is a busy train station because many urban, regional, and national trains stop there. Plus, it’s in the heart of the lovely Ostiense neighborhood and close to Testaccio and Garbatella.
- Roma San Pietro. Very popular train station in Rome because next to Vatican City. You can easily reach the Basilica of St. Peter by either getting off Piazza della Stazione di San Pietro or taking the scenic “Passeggiata del Gelsomino” from platform 1 and ending up behind the Basilica.
- Valle Aurelia. This station is very popular with residents because there is the train to Cesano, Bracciano, Viterbo and more towns north of Rome. Plus, next to the train station is the metro line A. This is actually a lovely area to stay in Rome, I often suggest it because close to central Rome, well-served by public transport, and offers many shops, restaurants, a gym, and a shopping mall.
Popular train+metro combinations in Rome
As I mentioned before, several train stations overlap with the Rome metro, either line A or line B. This allows you to reach important landmarks and your hotel quickly. Some of the most popular combinations of train and metro for tourism purposes are:
- Colosseo (metro B) reachable from Ostiense train station (Piramide metro).
- Ottaviano and Cipro (metro A) near the Vatican reachable from train station and metro Valle Aurelia.
- Flaminio (metro A) near Piazza del Popolo and Centro Storico is also near Flaminio train station of railway Roma-Civita Castellana-Viterbo.
- Roma Termini (metro A and B) reachable from many train stations around the city (Stazione San Pietro, Trastevere, Ostiense, Tuscolana, Tiburtina, etc).
Different tickets for Rome’s trains
When you take a train in Rome, you can choose between two types of tickets. Either you buy the ticket with Trenitalia or with Rome’s transportation company Atac. Atac tickets, in fact, cover also the trains along with all the transportation systems in Rome such as metro, buses, and trams. Trenitalia tickets, on the other hand, only cover the railway system and they are not valid if you want to take for example the metro.
So let’s say that you are in Termini and you want to go to Stazione San Pietro and then walk to the Vatican. Since you are only taking a train, I suggest you take the €1 ticket from the Trenitalia app.
If you are in Trastevere station and want to go to the Colosseum, a route you can follow is taking the train to Ostiense and from there the metro B in Piramide for two stops. In this case, since you are using both train and metro, the Trenitalia ticket alone is not enough, so you need to buy the Atac’s €1,50 ticket that covers everything.
If you are staying in Rome for a few days and know you are going to mainly rely on public transport for your transfers, you can consider a 24h, 48h, or 72h ticket. These cover everything: trains, metro, buses, and trams in all the routes within the municipality and urban fare.
Check out our tips to decide how long you should stay in Rome
How to buy Rome’s train tickets
There are a few ways to purchase a train ticket in Rome, at the station or online. Here is how to do that.
At the train station
While the ticket office with personnel is usually present in larger stations, in every train station, also in the smaller ones, you are sure to find a ticket machine. From there, you can purchase any type of tickets, the ones to travel to other cities and also the urban train tickets.
Keep in mind that these vending machines at the train stations are from Trenitalia and don’t sell Atac’s tickets.
At the metro station
In the metro stations, you will find the Atac ticket machines selling only the Atac tickets, so those are valid for all public transport. Keep in mind that the single €1,50 tickets are valid for 100 minutes and only 1 train ride and 1 metro ride, while buses are unlimited.
Online and through an app
When I have to take a train in Rome, I always buy my tickets online. This is very convenient for me because I live in an area where there is no newsagency to buy physical tickets, so I would have to either walk a lot or take a bus (so buy another ticket!) to reach a newsagency or stationery shop.
I always go out with my smartphone, so it’s very handy. The only downside is that sometimes the train in Rome travels under a tunnel and in some parts, there is no signal. What I do to bypass this issue is to download the ticket as soon as I buy it so that when the inspector checks, I have it on my phone. To do this, you just need to open it and leave it open for the duration of the ride.
- Trenitalia app. If my journey only involves a train ride, then my go-to app is Trenitalia. The tickets need to be bought more than 5 minutes in advance otherwise the system won’t allow you. The ticket for a Rome train you buy on the Trenitalia app will have a specific date and timestamp. I once took an earlier train than the one I bought and I asked the inspector if I could do it and he told me that I could, the only issue would be for the insurance because taking a different train than the one I bought, I wasn’t covered. The ride was ten minutes so I didn’t really mind.
Very important. When you buy your electronic ticket with the Trenitalia app, you MUST validate it before boarding the train. You do this by clicking on the “check-in” button in the app. If you don’t, they will give you a fine!
- MooneyGo app (formerly MyCicero). I use this app when I want to use a combination of trains and metro or buses. This is because, on the MooneyGo app, I can buy the €1,50 Atac single tickets that are valid also for one train ride. These don’t have a date so you can buy a bunch, save them in the app, and validate them when needed. Before entering the metro, you need to separately validate the metro ticket on the app. Sometimes it happens that
- Omio. The Omio app is very convenient if you are on a multi-city trip because you can compare all train companies, as well as flights and buses in every region in Italy. You can check it out here.
Do you need to book your seat on Rome’s trains?
The only seats you need to reserve are on the high-speed trains such as Trenitalia’s Freccia and Italo’s trains, or on the InterCity trains.
Within Rome’s municipality, you will take urban regional trains and there is no need to reserve a seat. Wherever you find space, you can sit. You only remember that you need to validate your ticket doing the check-in from the Trenitalia app.
Such check-in is not needed if you are using the Atac tickets. In this case, however, you will still need to validate them, either physically in the stations if you have a paper ticket, or from the app before boarding the train. The MooneyGo app allows you to validate the train and asks you to select the station where you are starting your ride.
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