Getting There By Rail
The Italian state railway, Ferrovie dello Stato (tel: (147) 888 088; website: www.fs-on-line.com), is both economical and efficient. Bologna’s train station, Bologna Centrale, is located at Piazza Medaglie d’Oro, in the north of the city. Facilities in the station include car hire from Avis and Hertz, banks, bars, restaurants, newspaper stands and a pharmacy. Passengers must validate their tickets by stamping them in the orange machines, located on the platform, before boarding, to avoid having to pay a fine. Supplements might be charged, depending on the type of train taken (Diretto, Inter-regionale, Espresso, Intercity or Eurostar). Service and fare information is available on Ferrovie’s national rail enquiries hotline (tel: (147) 888 088).
Rail services: Bologna Centrale is one of Italy’s main crossroads for both national and international trains. Work is underway to quadruple the number of platforms and to build a second station, thus increasing the level of service and halving travel times on the main lines. At present, the fastest service linking Bologna with Milan (journey time – 2 hours), Florence (journey time – 1 hour), Rome (journey time – 3 hours) and Naples (journey time – 5 hours) is the high-speed Eurostar. The EuroCity train service links Bologna with more than 40 other European destinations including Paris, Basel and Brussels.
Transport to the city: The city centre is a brisk ten-minute walk along Via dell’Indipendenza or a short bus ride on bus 10, 25 or 30.
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