Trenitalia, ITA Airways and Rome Fiumicino airport have joined forces to launch a new ‘train + plane’ product that allows travellers to combine rail and air bookings in a single ticket and complete flight check-in processes at the airport's adjacent train station before entering the terminal.
The Italian flag carrier, which will soon be acquired by Lufthansa, said the new offer aims to provide more efficient connectivity to and from Italian cities with all the destinations in its network.
“Intermodality is a focal point for ITA Airways, which combines the values and ambitions of the company: sustainability, innovation and the centrality of the customer,” said ITA Airways CEO and general manager, Fabio Lazzerini.
Combined air and rail tickets will be available for Trenitalia’s high-speed ‘Frecciarossa’ trains or the Leonardo Express (direct high-speed service from Rome Termini) to Rome Fiumicino airport.
Travellers arriving at the station with a Trenitalia ticket and an ITA Airways international or intercontinental flight booking (excluding flights to the US or Israel) can now check-in and drop-off luggage directly at the airport train station via a dedicated ‘FCO Connect’ service, which will be trialled for the duration of the 2023 summer season.
Commenting on the partnership, Aeroporti di Roma CEO Marco Troncone said the hub has given “maximum priority” to the intermodal offering, adding that the decarbonisation of aviation “must include strong service and technological innovations, which can also generate great advantages for travellers”.
“It will be fundamental to ensure the availability of suitable routes to make this product easy and competitive, guarantee a fast connection, short waiting times and dedicated assistance, provide more check-in services close to the first departure station and infrastructural works to ensure connectivity with the south of the country,” Troncone added.
In a joint statement, Trenitalia said direct high-speed connections from Italian cities such as Naples, Florence, Bologna, Padua and Venice are also planned and will further enhance the multimodal offer.
Trenitalia CEO and general manager Luigi Corradi said “creating a system is crucial for the development of intermodality” in order to provide wide-ranging environmental, social and economic benefits.
“We put ourselves in the passenger's shoes and have thought about how to make the service better and to guarantee a simple experience, not only during the train journey, but at the moment purchasing of a ticket,” he added.
ITA Airway’s combined air and rail ticket is also available to travellers with international rail links from Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands and the UK, following an agreement with intermodal solutions provider Accessrail. This includes travel via Renfe from Madrid and Barcelona, via LNER, GWR, National Express and Avanti West Coast from London, via SBB Swiss Railways from Zurich and Geneva and via SNBC from Amsterdam and Brussels.
The combined ticket can be purchased on ITA Airways’ digital channels or ticket offices, through authorised agencies and the ITA Airways Contact Center.
An adjacent memorandum of understanding signed between ITA Airway and Trenitalia owner Ferrovie dello Stato, Italy's state-owned railway company, also aims to bolster multimodal connections across the country. According to the companies, the MoU will “form the basis for commercial and operational partnerships aimed at creating an agile and comfortable end-to-end travel experience, with the goal of implementing common digital platforms”.
In another move set to improve multimodal travel, high-speed rail provider Italo recently acquired Itabus, a nascent coach company that offers day and night services with a fleet of 100 vehicles.
Italo CEO Gianbattista La Rocca said the move offers “a real integrated mobility service” for travellers across the Italian peninsula.
In a statement, the rail provider said the integration will bring about “interesting connections” between railway stations, airports and seaports with the possibility to offer combined ticketing via a single multimodal platform.
The integrated service will be operational this summer, according to the company, with the first connections focused on the southern Italian regions of Campania, Sicily and Puglia.