New routes and more Frecciarossa services and Business tickets at Standard price
Rome, 7th June 2016
The new rail timetable comes into effect on 12th June, and Trenitalia’s Freccia services are growing again, with more destinations and greater convenience.
Four new Frecciarossa services between Rome and Milan (two from 12th June and two from 31st July) and two between Rome and Venice will take the daily high-speed links between the Capital and Milan up to 90 and the Frecciarossa and Frecciargento services between the Capital and Venice to 38. A further two new services will complement the Frecciargento service between Rome and Verona, increasing the daily links between the two cities to 16, also with continuations to Bolzano and Brescia to the north and Naples to the south.
New routes, such as the Milan - Lecce Frecciarossa on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, are also going ahead, with the Freccialink providing the option to link cities far from the high-speed infrastructure, such as Matera, Potenza, L’Aquila, Perugia and Siena, to the main hubs served by the Frecciarossa and Frecciargento services, thanks to an integrated Freccia train + Bus service.
There are also many summer stops by the Frecciargento and Frecciabianca at the main seaside resorts on the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian coasts and, for some of these, special offers have been agreed with local hotel associations to incentivise sustainable tourism, which finds an ideal partner and ally in the Trenitalia services.
The new timetable will also bring an increase in services by the brand-new Frecciarossa 1000 to over 60 per day at the end of the year. One year on from its launch, this service has journeyed 5.2 million kilometres, its exceptional technical quality and comfort tried and tested by three and a half million passengers.
The introduction of the Frecciarossa 1000 permits extension of the Frecciarossa network, using the ETR500 version to replace the Frecciabianca on other routes, such as the Turin-Milan-Venice Po Valley axis, or to replace the Frecciargento, for example on the Rome-Florence-Bologna-Venice route.
The Estate Trenitalia summer initiative also offers many reasons to leave the car at home and choose the train instead, not least the chance to travel in Executive class at the price of Business or in Business class at the price of Standard on Frecciarossa services, and in first class for the price of second on the Frecciargento, Frecciabianca and Intercity services. This Upgrade Estate (summer upgrade) offer is valid for journeys up until 31st August.
Something for Young (under 26) and Senior (over 60) CartaFreccia loyalty card holders, too: in July and August, these customers will be able to travel every day on national trains, in all classes except Executive, at a 50% reduction on the basic price.
In August, there is a special perk for those wishing to take their dogs on holiday with them: man’s best friend will be able to come aboard Freccia and long-distance trains paying just 5 euros: almost a token price.
These are not the only promotions making it worthwhile choosing to travel with Trenitalia this summer. There are 50% reductions for destinations such as Trento, Bolzano, Rovereto, Verona, Brescia, Bari and Reggio Calabria, a 10-euro bonus and 50 CartaFreccia points for those buying a Freccialink ticket up until 30th June and a “Speciale Roma” (Rome special offer) enabling passengers to reach the Capital City, up until 20th November, at a 30% reduction on the basic price. Trenitalia is also launching the “Viaggiatore per un anno” (traveller for a year) contest: each year, 11 lucky customers will be rewarded with ten 50-euro discount bonuses and a journey in Executive class. Also, in the final draw, 10 customers will win a card for free travel for a whole year on all national trains, together with another person.
Indeed, ten years on from the start-up of the high-speed services and eight years after the launch of the Freccia brand, the company has not ceased in its commitment to stimulating demand and meeting its customers’ needs with new services, promotions and technological innovations or to growing traffic and passenger volumes for Trenitalia’s leading services.
A few figures: 300 million high-speed journeys in ten years and 14.4 million passengers on the Freccia services in the first 2016 quarter, after the number of high-speed Freccia (Frecciarossa and Frecciargento) passengers in 2015 increased by 7% on 2014. The website has reached 8.5 million visitors per month, placing it in pole position in the Ecommerce Ranking of Italian Tourism sites. The Trenitalia App has easily exceeded 2.5 million downloads. CartaFreccia loyalty card holders number more than 5.4 million.
The customer satisfaction index, in the latest opinion poll conducted by an external firm, reached a percentage of 97.2%.