Italian Night Trains

[Hoofhearted]

Hi all. My son and i will be travelling extensively through Italy next week and the week after, including a few days in Albania for good measure! During the course of our journey we will be catching two night trains, Milan to Lecce and Rome to Catania. We are booked in 2 berth sleepers. Over the many years that we've travelled on sleepers in Europe it is the norm for us to stack up on food and drink before we embark, as there is little or no catering facilities on overnight trains. Is that the case in Italy? Furthermore, during our 3 night stay in Tirana we were hoping to take some pictures of Albanian trains. I understand they no longer run except on weekends, but could you give us some advice as to where we can take some photos? Many thanks. Looking forward to any advice that you can provide.

 

[30907]

Hi all. My son and i will be travelling extensively through Italy next week and the week after, including a few days in Albania for good measure! During the course of our journey we will be catching two night trains, Milan to Lecce and Rome to Catania. We are booked in 2 berth sleepers. Over the many years that we've travelled on sleepers in Europe it is the norm for us to stack up on food and drink before we embark, as there is little or no catering facilities on overnight trains. Is that the case in Italy?

Yes, though I believe there is a light breakfast.

 

[rvdborgt]

Yes, though I believe there is a light breakfast.

Indeed there should be. Last year in October though, when 5 of us travelled Double + T3 from Sicily to Milan, the sleeper attendant was very disorganised and distributed the breakfast components randomly over the compartments, so some had orange juice, other didn't etc. On top of that, he served the worse cappuccino I'd ever had. So... if you don't count on anything, it might not be too bad.

 

[JB_B]

There's a bit of detail about what's meant to be offered on IC Notte here:-

Ristorazione - Trenitalia

www.trenitalia.com

The last time I took an sleeper in Italy ( 2019 ) there was no on board catering at all.

 

[Iskra]

Indeed there should be. Last year in October though, when 5 of us travelled Double + T3 from Sicily to Milan, the sleeper attendant was very disorganised and distributed the breakfast components randomly over the compartments, so some had orange juice, other didn't etc. On top of that, he served the worse cappuccino I'd ever had. So... if you don't count on anything, it might not be too bad.

I travelled Bologna-Taranto on a night train last month. Snacks/juice in the cabin were less than provided on Milan-Taranto the year before, but this could be down to the interesting and highly inefficient and disruptive distribution method. A light breakfast of a packaged filled croissant, packaged mini toast + nutella and an excellent Espresso were delivered after Bari. To offer some redemption for your sleeper attendant I don’t believe the coffees are made on board- I think they are made at a station cafe and delivered to the train. From what I see the quality of cappuccino drinks in Italy isn’t all that good. I have espresso usually and it is usually much better quality.

 

[AlbertBeale]

I travelled Bologna-Taranto on a night train last month. Snacks/juice in the cabin were less than provided on Milan-Taranto the year before, but this could be down to the interesting and highly inefficient and disruptive distribution method. A light breakfast of a packaged filled croissant, packaged mini toast + nutella and an excellent Espresso were delivered after Bari. To offer some redemption for your sleeper attendant I don’t believe the coffees are made on board- I think they are made at a station cafe and delivered to the train. From what I see the quality of cappuccino drinks in Italy isn’t all that good. I have espresso usually and it is usually much better quality.

Perhaps Italian cappuccinos seem wrong to anyone brought up on "cappuccinos" as sold here. But if most of your early experiences of cappuccinos were in Italy, then the milky drink you usually get in Britain often seems dreadful, and unworthy of the cappuccino name.

On the Milan-Syracuse sleeper a few years ago, the attendant made the coffee on board in the morning - and it was one of the best espressos I'd had in years. But there was no proper catering or breakfast on that route then. (And maybe still isn't.)

The poor availability of breakfast - compared to many other European sleeper routes - seems the one significant downside of internal sleepers in Italy.

 

[Hoofhearted]

Thanks for the responses one and all, much appreciated. However, I was more interested in what to take on board to eat/drink in the evening, rather than breakfast. On almost every night train we've caught previously it was the case of buy sandwiches/snacks/beer before boarding, as there was nothing available to purchase on board. The only exception was the now defunct Jan Kepiura (?) Apologies for the spelling. This ran between Brussels and Warsaw. The attendant kept a good stock of chilled beers in his fridge.

PS: Can anyone assist with locations in Albania for rail photography, which was part of my original thread?

 

[AlbertBeale]

Thanks for the responses one and all, much appreciated. However, I was more interested in what to take on board to eat/drink in the evening, rather than breakfast. On almost every night train we've caught previously it was the case of buy sandwiches/snacks/beer before boarding, as there was nothing available to purchase on board. The only exception was the now defunct Jan Kepiura (?) Apologies for the spelling. This ran between Brussels and Warsaw. The attendant kept a good stock of chilled beers in his fridge.

PS: Can anyone assist with locations in Albania for rail photography, which was part of my original thread?

Catching the sleeper from Milan, I found there were decent food places on the station to eat before leaving (and of course places to pick up bits for the morning too); I think there are still no buffet/restaurant facilities on Italian sleepers!

 

[D6130]

Catching the sleeper from Milan, I found there were decent food places on the station to eat before leaving (and of course places to pick up bits for the morning too); I think there are still no buffet/restaurant facilities on Italian sleepers!

Yes, there is an excellent restaurant/cafe/bar/shop on the upper concourse at Milano Centrale, opposite platform 17, called 'Bistro Milano Centrale'. It's open until 21 00 and you can get full meals, drinks, coffee and beer, wine, water,pizza, salads, snacks and sandwiches to take away. it's good quality for station catering (operated by the Italian motorway services company, Autogrill) and very reasonably priced. There are similar outlets at Roma Termini....plus lots of cheap and cheerful pizzerie, trattorie, rosticcerie and small food stores in the streets immediately outside the station - especially on the South (high-numbered platforms) side.

From what I see the quality of cappuccino drinks in Italy isn’t all that good.

Che? Cosa? Whaaaat? Sorry if you disagree, but Cappuccino was invented in Italy and - in my experience - it's generally better there than the wishy-washy offerings served anywhere else, which tend to have too little coffee and too much milk. If your old Italian nonna could have seen what you've just written here, she would make you wash your mouth out with Nescafe and water. As @AlbertBeale said above, you've probably been too heavily-influenced by the inferior offerings of Costa, Starbucks, etc.

 

[JB_B]

Thanks for the responses one and all, much appreciated. However, I was more interested in what to take on board to eat/drink in the evening, rather than breakfast. On almost every night train we've caught previously it was the case of buy sandwiches/snacks/beer before boarding, as there was nothing available to purchase on board...

It's not really any different in Italy. Unless you're happy with just crisps and nuts then you'll need to make your own arrangements for something to eat in the evening.

The menu show the upper limit of what you can expect on the train: https://www.trenitalia.com/content/...alia/Ristorazione Intercity Notte_minibar.pdf

If the timings don't work out for eating beforehand then call into any decent salumeria (you can usually find at least one near major stations) and they'll make excellent sandwiches,etc to your exact specification. Probably a lot nicer than what you could find in the chain outlets in the station.

 

[Jack in England]

Hi all. My son and i will be travelling extensively through Italy next week and the week after, including a few days in Albania for good measure! During the course of our journey we will be catching two night trains, Milan to Lecce and Rome to Catania. We are booked in 2 berth sleepers. Over the many years that we've travelled on sleepers in Europe it is the norm for us to stack up on food and drink before we embark, as there is little or no catering facilities on overnight trains. Is that the case in Italy? Furthermore, during our 3 night stay in Tirana we were hoping to take some pictures of Albanian trains. I understand they no longer run except on weekends, but could you give us some advice as to where we can take some photos? Many thanks. Looking forward to any advice that you can provide.

Hi we did the Rome - Sicily train in May this year

In Rome station downstairs is a supermarket stock up there but don't do what we did and bought loads! you're only on there for 1 night most of which you will be sleeping, they will give you an overnight pack bottled water, wet wipes...etc. On a side note just before you arrive at Villa S Giovanni ( ferry terminal) they will lock all the toilets ready for uncoupling and they will stay locked until the train is off the other side which first thing in the morning was an issue for most You can obviously use the ferry toilets but the whole getting on the ferry does take some time..

 

[Snow1964]

Trenitalia has ordered 70 new sleeping cars from a framework agreement for upto 370. To be supplied by consortium of Titagarh Firema SpA and Škoda Transportation AS.

Will be used on Milan to Palermo and Syracuse

The FS group has signed a contract for the supply of 70 new Trenitalia Intercity Notte carriages: the supply is financed under the PNRR with 140 million euro. The contract is part of a broader agreement which provides for the purchase of up to 370 new cars.
carriages for a value of approximately 730 million euros. The first 70 carriages, destined for Intercity Notte services to and from Sicily, will be put into service by 30 June 2026.

New sustainable carriages​

They will offer full accessibility to people with reduced mobility, with dedicated toilets and seats; thanks also to high soundproofing, they will allow you to sleep in maximum comfort and relaxation in sleeping cabins and couchettes, or traveling in cars with the latest generation of seats. The railway carriages will also be equipped with a video surveillance system. There will be three types of 70 sleeping carriages: 44 will be “berths”; 22 “bed” and 4 seating carriages. The “Bunks” will be equipped with an air conditioning and thermoregulation system per room, and will have 7 cabins with 4 beds each. The “bed” carriages have bedrooms, 2 with double beds and 6 with two single beds, equipped with private toilet and shower. The carriages with seats have a large passenger lounge with seats arranged in 2+1, so as to maximize interior comfort with seat modules equipped with light in place, armrests and increased headrests. The large central corridor allows for easy use of the internal space during the journey, while luggage racks and luggage storage spaces are provided in the vestibule area. The vestibule areas host a toilet on each side and it will also be possible to bring your own bike on board, to be placed in the appropriate spaces.

FS, order worth 140 million for the purchase of new night carriages for Intercity - Breaking Latest News

Listen to the audio version of the article The FS group has signed a contract for the…

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