How to purchase rail tickets

I am posting this for Giovanni Drogo, who prepared this long useful
message about sleeper acommodations and some advice about getting the
ticket from Pisa to Zurich, and then was unable to post it because of
server problems.

=========On Sun, 6 Mar 2005, B Vaughan wrote:
On Sun, 6 Mar 2005 12:13:36 -0500, "Brett" wrote:

The Florance Zurich has a sleeper option. What exactly is that?

I imagine that's a private sleeping compartment. A couchette is a bunk
in a shared compartment. There are 6 bunks in the 2nd class
compartments and 4 in the 1st class compartments.

Sleeper compartments are not necessarily private. The arrangement
depends on the type of car. There used to be two main kind of sleeper
cars (sometimes the same train has both kinds, sometimes just one car
of a fixed type).

- one has large compartments. They can be fitted as "single" (S),
double ("D") or T3, with one, two or three bunks.

- the other one has smaller compartments, which can be fitted as
"special" or T2, with one of two bunks.

In both cases you have running water, towels, real sheets, blankets
and cushion, reading light, cloth hangers, and the possibility to lock
inside the compartment. Much more comfortable and safe than couchette.

To get a Single, Double or Special you must have a 1st class ticket,
to get a T2 or T3 a 2nd class ticket. If you are a couple or a family
you can book an entire T2 or T3 compartment, otherwise if you travel
alone you might have to share (male or female compartments only). You
can always book, and there is a 50% probability you'll travel alone.

I have no idea of recent prices for international sleepers, but they
should be convenient w.r.t to a typical hotel. The cost of a Single is
a bit more than a Special, a Double is about half a Single, a T3 about
one third, and a T2 a bit more.


On Sun, 6 Mar 2005, B Vaughan wrote:

The Rome to Pisa route is usually two separate trains, with a change
in Florence. The Rome to Florence segment is usually a Eurostar, the

There may be a few direct trains from Rome to Pisa, without having to
change in Florence, but the vast majority are as I describe them.

I advise to use the following site to get info on timetables and
routes http://home.arcor.de/e.lauterbach/au...fplanx-en.html

It has a simple interface to the German railways database, which can
handle all Europe. It is much faster, nicer and simpler than the
Trenitalia site. Only it does not have prices outside Germany.

Personally I'd imagine that the coastal route via
Civitavecchia-Grosseto-Livorno would be the most obvious choice to go
from Rome to Pisa. I see from there that it can be covered in 3 hrs,
e.g. IC538 departing Rome 13:46. But since it is relatively minor, it
tend to be penalised nowadays w.r.t. the route via Florence (usually
involving a change, but some trains go directly).

For sales and reservations, I'd advise to contact a travel agent once
in Italy. If you arrive in Rome, there are some even inside the main
hall at Termini. There is no surcharge for booking and buying tickets
at a travel agent, shorter queues, and they usually speak foreign
languages better than the typical clerk at a counter, are more kind
and willing to help you, and more competent specially when dealing
with international tickets.

Otherwise you might consider contacting this site
http://www.dbitalia.it/

If you click on "Vendita" (sales), you'll have an e-mail contact and a
form (in italian, but should be almost self-explanatory, and I guess
they'll have no problem in answering to an e-mail in English).

It's the italian official representative of the German railways, which
is also agent for the Austrian and Swiss railways. So they should
definitely be capable to issue a Pisa-Zuerich sleeper ticket. I do not
know however if they deal with orders from abroad (living in Milan, I
just walk to their counters). But it's worth inquiring.

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Barbara Vaughan
My email address is my first initial followed by my surname at libero dot it
I answer travel questions only in the newsgroup