Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

has a well developed

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

infrastructure. The Italian rail network is extensive, especially in the north, and it includes a high-speed rail network that joins the major cities of Italy from

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

through northern cities such as

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

. The

Florence–Rome high-speed railway The Florence–Rome high-speed railway line is a link in the Italian high-speed rail network. It is known as the ferrovia direttissima Firenze-Roma in Italian—meaning "most direct Florence–Rome railway" (abbreviated DD); this name reflects t ...

was the first high-speed line opened in Europe when more than half of it opened in 1977. Italy has 2,507 people and 12.46 km² per kilometer of rail track, giving Italy the world's 13th largest rail network.Compare

List of countries by rail transport network size This list of countries by rail transport network size based on International Union of Railways data ranks countries by length of rail lines worked at end of year updated with other reliable sources. These figures also include urban/suburban mass ...

. The Italian rail network is operated by state-owned

Ferrovie dello Stato Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

, while the

rail tracks A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleeper ...

and infrastructure are managed by

Rete Ferroviaria Italiana Rete Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI) is the Italian railway infrastructure manager, subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato (FS), a state-owned holding company. RFI is the owner of Italy's railway network, it provides signalling, maintenance and other se ...

. Italy's road network is also widespread, with a total length of about 487,700 km. It comprises both an extensive

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

(6,758 km), mostly

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''Toll (fee), toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically ...

s, and national and local roads. Italy was the first country in the world to build

s, the so-called '' autostrade'', reserved for fast traffic and for motor vehicles only. The ''Autostrada dei Laghi'' ("Lakes Motorway"), the first built in the world, connecting

to Lake Como and

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest l ...

, and now parts of the A8 and A9 motorways, was devised by Piero Puricelli and was inaugurated in 1924. Italy is the fifth in Europe by number of passengers by air transport, with about 148 million passengers or about 10% of the European total in 2011. In 2012 there were 130 airports in Italy, including the two hubs of

Malpensa International Airport Milan Malpensa Airport is the largest international airport in northern Italy, serving Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, as well as the Swiss Canton of Ticino. The airport is northwest of Milan, next to the Ticino river dividing Lombardy and Pie ...

in Milan and

Leonardo da Vinci International Airport Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard. People Notable people with the name include: * Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian Renaissance scientist ...

in Rome. Since October 2021, Italy's

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hi ...

airline is

ITA Airways Italia Trasporto Aereo S.p.A., trading as ITA Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Italy. It is fully owned by the Government of Italy via the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The airline flies to over 60 scheduled domestic, E ...

, which took over the brand, the IATA ticketing code, and many assets belonging to the former flag carrier

Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. The ai ...

, after its bankruptcy. Because of its long seacoast, Italy also has many harbors for the transportation of both goods and passengers. In 2004 there were 43 major seaports including the

Port of Genoa The Port of Genoa it is one of the most important seaports in Italy, in competition with the ports of Marseille and Barcelona in the Mediterranean Sea. With a trade volume of 51.6 million tonnes, it is the busiest port of Italy after the port of ...

, the country's largest and the third busiest by cargo tonnage in the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

. Due to the increasing importance of the maritime Silk Road with its connections to Asia and East Africa, the Italian ports for Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

have become important in recent years. In addition, the trade in goods is shifting from the European northern ports to the ports of the Mediterranean Sea due to the considerable time savings and environmental protection. In particular, the deep water port of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into prov ...

in the northernmost part of the Mediterranean Sea is the target of Italian, Asian and European investments.Marcus Hernig: Die Renaissance der Seidenstraße (2018) pp 112.Bernhard Simon: Can The New Silk Road Compete With The Maritime Silk Road? in The Maritime Executive, 1 January 2020. Transport networks in Italy are integrated into the Trans-European Transport Networks.

Railways

The Italian rail network is extensive, especially in the north, and it includes a high-speed rail network that joins the major cities of Italy from

through northern cities such as

and

. Italy has 2,507 people and 12.46 km² per kilometer of rail track, giving Italy the world's 13th largest rail network. Italy has 11 rail border crossings over the Alpine mountains with its neighbouring countries. Higher-speed trains are divided into three categories:

Frecciarossa ''Frecciarossa'' is a high-speed train of the Italian national train operator, Trenitalia, and a member of the train category Le Frecce. The name, which, if spelled "Freccia rossa" means "Red arrow" in English, was introduced in 2008 after i ...

( en, red arrow) trains operate at a maximum speed of 300 km/h on dedicated high-speed tracks;

Frecciargento ''Frecciargento'' is a high-speed train of the Italian national train operator, Trenitalia, and a member of the train category Le Frecce. The name, which means "Silver Arrow", was introduced in 2012 after it had previously been known as Eu ...

( en, silver arrow) trains operate at a maximum speed of 250 km/h on both high-speed and mainline tracks; and

Frecciabianca ''Frecciabianca'' is a regional high-speed train of the Italian national train operator, Trenitalia, and a member of the train category Le Frecce. The name, which means "white arrow", was introduced in 2011 after it had previously been know ...

( en, white arrow) trains operate on high-speed regional lines at a maximum speed of 200 km/h. The Italian railway system has a length of , of which standard gauge and electrified. The active lines are 16,723 km. The network is recently growing with the construction of the new high-speed rail network. The narrow gauge tracks are: Milano staz Porta Venezia TSR linea S6

* of gauge (all electrified); * of gauge (of which electrified). A major part of the Italian rail network is managed and operated by

Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. ( "Italian Railways of the State"; previously only Ferrovie dello Stato, hence the abbreviation FS) is Italy's national state-owned railway holding company that manages transport, infrastructure, real estat ...

, a state owned company. Other regional agencies, mostly owned by public entities such as

regional governments In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and ...

, operate on the Italian network. The

and infrastructure are managed by

. The Italian railways are subsidised by the government, receiving €8.1 billion in 2009. Travellers who often make use of the railway during their stay in Italy might use Rail Passes, such as the European Inter-Rail or Italy's national and regional passes. These rail passes allow travellers the freedom to use regional trains during the validity period, but all high-speed and intercity trains require a 10-euro reservation fee. Regional passes, such as "Io viaggio ovunque Lombardia", offer one-day, multiple-day and monthly period of validity. There are also saver passes for adults, who travel as a group, with savings up to 20%. Foreign travellers should purchase these passes in advance, so that the passes could be delivered by post prior to the trip. When using the rail passes, the date of travel needs to be filled in before boarding the trains.

High speed trains

2012-06-27 Roma ferrovia Firenze-Roma direttissima da via delle Valli

Major works to increase the commercial speed of the trains already started in 1967: the Rome-Florence "super-direct" line was built for trains up to 230 km/h, and reduced the journey time to less than two hours. The Florence–Rome high-speed railway was the first high-speed line opened in Europe when more than half of it opened in 1977. In 2009 a new high-speed line linking Milan and Turin, operating at 300 km/h, opened to passenger traffic, reducing the journey time from two hours to one hour. In the same year, the Milan-Bologna line was open, reducing the journey time to 55 minutes. Also the Bologna-Florence high-speed line was upgraded to 300 km/h for a journey time of 35 minutes. Since then, it is possible to travel from Turin to Salerno (ca. 950 km) in less than 5 hours. More than 100 trains per day are operated. The main public operator of high-speed trains (''alta velocità AV'', formerly Eurostar Italia) is

Trenitalia Trenitalia is the primary train operator in Italy. A subsidiary of Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, itself owned by the Italian government, the company was established in 2000 following a European Union directive on the deregulation of rail tra ...

, part of FSI. Trains are divided into three categories: Frecciarossa ("Red arrow") trains operate at a maximum of 300 km/h on dedicated high-speed tracks; Frecciargento (Silver arrow) trains operate at a maximum of 250 km/h on both high-speed and mainline tracks; Frecciabianca (White arrow) trains operate at a maximum of 200 km/h on mainline tracks only. Since 2012, a new and Italy's first private train operator,

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Televis ...

(branded as Italo), run high-speed services in competition with

. Even nowadays, Italy is the only county in Europe with a private high-speed train operator. Construction of the Milan-Venice high-speed line has begun in 2013 and in 2016 the Milan-Treviglio section has been opened to passenger traffic; the Milan-Genoa high-speed line (Terzo Valico dei Giovi) is also under construction. Today it is possible to travel from Rome to Milan in less than 3 hours (2h 55') with the

Frecciarossa 1000 The Frecciarossa 1000, is a high-speed train operated by Italian state railway operator Trenitalia. It was co-developed as a joint venture between Italian rail manufacturer Hitachi Rail Italy (initially AnsaldoBreda) and multinational conglome ...

, the new high-speed train. To cover this route, there's a train every 30 minutes.

Intercity trains

With the introduction of high-speed trains, intercity trains are limited to few services per day on mainline and regional tracks. The daytime services (''Intercity'' IC), while not frequent and limited to one or two trains per route, are essential in providing access to cities and towns off the railway's mainline network. The main routes are

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(stopping at

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

, Prato,

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

and Arezzo),

to Rome (stopping at

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

, La Spezia, Pisa and Livorno / stopping at

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

, Modena, Bologna, Prato, Florence and Arezzo), Bologna to Lecce (stopping at

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

, Bari and Brindisi) and Rome to

Reggio di Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label=Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated popula ...

(stopping at

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

and

). In addition, the Intercity trains provide a more economical means of long-distance rail travel within Italy. The night trains (''Intercity Notte'' ICN) have sleeper compartments and washrooms, but no showers on board. Main routes are Rome to

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

/Bozen (calling at Florence, Bologna,

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

Rovereto Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the frontier ...

and

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ce ...

), Milan to Lecce (calling at Bologna, Rimini, Ancona, Pescara, Bari and Brindisi),

to Lecce (calling at Alessandria,

Voghera The Castle of Voghera in a 19th-century etching. Voghera ( Vogherese dialect of Emilian: ''Vughera''; Latin: ''Forum Iulii Iriensium'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy. The population was 39,374 ...

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

, Parma, Bologna, Rimini, Pescara, Bari and Brindisi) and Reggio di Calabria to Turin (calling Naples, Rome, Livorno, La Spezia and Genova). Most portions of these ICN services run during the night; since most services take 10 to 15 hours to complete a one-way journey, their day-time portion provide extra train connections to complement with the Intercity services. There are a total of 86 intercity trains running within Italy per day.

Regional trains

Trenitalia operates regional services (both fast ''veloce RGV'' and stopping ''REG'') throughout Italy. Regional train agencies exist: their train schedules are largely connected to and shown on Trenitalia, and tickets for such train services can be purchased through Trenitalia's national network. Other regional agencies have separate ticket systems which are not mutually exchangeable with that of Trenitalia. These "regional" tickets could be purchased at local newsagents or tobacco stores instead. * Trentino-Alto Adige / Trentino-Südtirol: Südtirol Bahn (South Tyrol Railway) runs regional services on Ala/Ahl-am-Etsch to Bolzano/Bozen (calling at Rovereto/Rofreit, Trento/Trient and Mezzocorona/Kronmetz), Bolzano/Bozen to Merano/Meran, Bressanone/Brixen to San Candido/Innichen, and a direct "Tirol regional express REX" service between Bolzano/Bozen in Italy and Innsbruck in Austria. *

Veneto it, Veneto (man) it, Veneta (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = ...

: Sistemi Territoriali runs regional trains in Veneto region. * Lombardy:

Trenord Trenord is a railway company which is responsible for the operation of regional passenger trains in Lombardy. The company was established by the two main railway companies in Lombardy, Trenitalia and Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM), to manage train ope ...

runs the

Malpensa Express The ''Malpensa Express'' is an airport rail service linking the city of Milan with Malpensa Airport, in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. Trenord operates ''Malpensa Express'' services between Malpensa Airport and both Milan Cadorna and ...

airport train, many Milan's suburban lines and most regional train services in Lombardy. Trenord also co-operates with DB and

ÖBB The Austrian Federal Railways (german: Österreichische Bundesbahnen, formally (lit. "Austrian Federal Railways Holding Stock Company") and formerly the or ''BBÖ''), now commonly known as ÖBB, is the national railway company ...

on the EuroCity Verona-Munich service, and with

SBB CFF FFS Swiss Federal Railways (german: link=no, Schweizerische Bundesbahnen, ''SBB''; french: link=no, Chemins de fer fédéraux suisses, ''CFF''; it, Ferrovie federali svizzere, ''FFS'') is the national railway company of Switzerland. It is usuall ...

(joint-venture TiLo) on the regional Milan-Bellinzona service. *

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna Trasporto Passeggeri Emilia-Romagna (TPER, Italian for ''Emilia-Romagna passenger transportation'') is a public company overseeing public transportation in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, in the province of Ferrara and in parts of the province ...

provides vital connections across cities on different mainline networks, including Modena, Parma, Suzzara, Ferrara, Reggio Emilia and Bologna. *

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

: La Ferroviaria Italiana operates in Arezzo province. * Abruzzo: Sangritana runs daily services between Pescara and Lanciano. In addition to these agencies, there's a great deal of other little operators, such as AMT Genova for the Genova-Casella railway.

Rapid transit

7 cities have

metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urb ...

systems: 15 cities have

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...

systems; cities without wikilink are those listed just above for their metro rail system. * Bari (

Bari metropolitan railway service The Bari metropolitan railway service is a commuter rail service in the Italian city Bari. It consists of two lines, joining the central railway station, located in the city centre, with the dormitory suburb San Paolo (line FM1) and with the � ...

, 3 lines) *

(

Bologna metropolitan railway service The Bologna metropolitan railway service (Italian: ''servizio ferroviario metropolitano di Bologna'', acronym: ''SFMBO'') is a commuter railway service around the Italian city of Bologna. It is currently under construction. History Launched in 1 ...

, 8 lines) * Cagliari, 1 line *

Catanzaro Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its p ...

, 2 lines * Genoa ( Genoa urban railway service, 3 lines) * Messina, 1 line * Milan (

Milan suburban railway service The Milan S Lines constitute the commuter rail system serving the metropolitan area of Milan, Italy. The system comprises 11 lines serving 124 stations, for a total length of 403 km. There are 415 trains per day with a daily ridership of a ...

, 12 lines) * Naples, 8 lines * Palermo ( Palermo metropolitan railway service, 2 lines) *

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

, 1 line * Potenza, 1 line * Reggio Calabria, 1 line * Rome (

FL lines The FL lines, formerly ''Lazio regional railways'' ( it, ferrovie regionali del Lazio, also ''Ferrovie Laziali'') consist of 8 commuter rail lines operated by Trenitalia, converging on the city of Rome. Lines FL1, FL2 and FL3, particularly in a ...

, 8 lines) * Salerno ( Salerno metropolitan railway service, 1 line) * Turin ( Turin metropolitan railway service, 8 lines)

Rail links with adjacent countries

Italy has 11 rail border crossings over the Alpine mountains with her neighbouring countries: six are designated as mainline tracks and two are metre-gauge tracks. The six mainline border crossings are: two with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

(one for Nice and Marseille; the other for Lyon and Dijon), two with Switzerland (one for Brig, Bern and Geneva; the other for Chiasso, Lugano, Lucerne and Zürich), and two with Austria (one for Innsbruck; the other for Villach, Graz and Vienna). The two-metre-gauge track crossings are located at the border town of

Tirano Tirano ( lmo, Tiràn, german: Thiran) is a town in Valtellina, located in the province of Sondrio in northern Italy. It has 9,053 inhabitants (2016) and is adjacent to the Switzerland-Italy border. The river Adda flows through the town. Main s ...

(enters Switzerland's Canton Graubünden/Grisons) and Domodossola (enters Switzerland's Locarno). There is a railway line connecting Italy's northeastern port of

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, but no passenger or freight services operate on this track. Consequently, there is no direct connections between Trieste and

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

, the capital of Slovenia, despite the proximity of both cities. * Italy-France: Marseille-Ventimiglia railway, currently EuroCity trains of

Thello Trenitalia France is an open-access train operator running international services between France and Italy. It was originally established under the ''Thello'' brand in October 2011. On 11 December 2011, Thello ran its first night service, having ...

Milan-Marseille and one

EuroNight EuroNight, abbreviated EN, is a European train category which denotes many main-line national and international night train services within the Western and Central European inter-city rail network. Overview The classification and name were bro ...

train of RZD Moscow-Nice. * Italy-France:

Fréjus Rail Tunnel The Fréjus Rail Tunnel (also called Mont Cenis Tunnel) is a rail tunnel of length in the European Alps, carrying the Turin–Modane railway through Mont Cenis to an end-on connection with the Culoz–Modane railway and linking Bardonecchia i ...

at 1,338 m above sea, currently SNCF TGV trains Milan-Paris and Turin-Paris and EuroNight trains of

Venice-Paris * Italy-Switzerland: Domodossola–Locarno railway metre-gauge trains * Italy-Switzerland:

Simplon Tunnel , it, Galleria del Sempione , line = Simplon line, (Lötschberg railway line) , location = Traversing the Lepontine Alps between Switzerland and Italy , coordinates = – , system = Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF ...

, currently EuroCity trains of

Milan-Geneva and Milan-Bern * Italy-Switzerland: connecting Varese (Italy) to Bellinzona (Switzerland) and runs on the eastern coast of Lake Maggiore * Italy-Switzerland:

Milan–Chiasso railway The Milano–Chiasso railway line is an Italian state-owned railway connecting Milan to Como and Chiasso, Switzerland. It is electrified at 3000 volts DC. Between Milan and Monza it has four tracks and is used not only by trains operating to an ...

, currently EuroCity trains of

Milan-Zürich * Italy-Switzerland:

Bernina railway The Bernina Railway (german: Berninalinie; it, Linea del Bernina; rm, Lingia dal Bernina) is a single-track railway line forming part of the Rhaetian Railway (RhB). It links the spa resort of St. Moritz, in the canton of Graubünden, Switze ...

at 2,253 m above sea, metre-gauge trains of RhB Tirano-St. Moritz and the Bernina Express tourist train * Italy-Austria: Brenner railway at 1,371 m above sea, currently EuroCity trains of ÖBB-DB Munich-Verona and Munich-Venice/Bologna, and DB

CityNightLine CityNightLine AG (timetable and platform sign abbreviation: CNL) was a Swiss night train service. CNL had right of passage grants in Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Denmark. It served stations in Belgium, France, Italy and t ...

Munich-Rome/Milan * Italy-Austria: at 1,175 m above sea connecting San Candido/Innichen (Italy) and Lienz (Austria) * Italy-Austria: connecting Venice and Udine (Italy) to Villach (Austria), currently EuroCity trains of

Venice-Vienna, EuroNight trains of

Vienna-Rome/Milan, and DB

Munich-Venice * Italy-Slovenia:

Tarvisio–Ljubljana Railway The Tarvisio–Ljubljana Railway ( sl, Železniška proga Ljubljana - Jesenice) is a partially closed to traffic international railway line between Italy and Slovenia. It was opened in 1870 as part of the Austro-Hungarian Rudolfsbahn railway net ...

The

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

is also linked to Italy with a railway line serving a single railway station, the

Vatican City railway station The Vatican Railway ( it, Ferrovia Vaticana) was opened in 1934 to serve Vatican City and its only station, Vatican City ( , or ). The main rail tracks are standard gauge and long, with two freight sidings, making it the shortest national ...

. This line is used only for special occasions.

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

used to have a narrow gauge rail connection with Italy; this was dismantled in 1944.

Stations

Facciata della Stazione Centrale di Milano nel 2016

Italy's top ten railway stations by annual passengers are:

Roads

Italy is one of the countries with the most vehicles per capita, with 690 per 1000 people in 2010. Italy has a total of 487,700 km of paved roads, of which 6,758 km are

s with a general speed limit of , which since 2009 was provisioned for extension up to . The speed limit in towns is usually and less commonly . Italy was the first country in the world to build

s, the so-called '' autostrade'', reserved for fast traffic and for motor vehicles only. The ''Autostrada dei Laghi'' ("Lakes Motorway"), the first built in the world, connecting

to Lake Como and

, and now parts of the A8 and A9 motorways, was devised by Piero Puricelli and was inaugurated in 1924.

Waterways

Italy has of navigable waterways for various types of commercial traffic, although of limited overall value. In the northern regions of Lombardy and Venetia, commuter ferry boats operate on

Lake Garda Lake Garda ( it, Lago di Garda or ; lmo, label= Eastern Lombard, Lach de Garda; vec, Ƚago de Garda; la, Benacus; grc, Βήνακος) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, about halfway between ...

and Lake Como to connect towns and villages at both sides of the lakes. The waterways in Venice, including the Grand Canal, serve as the vital transportation network for local residents and tourists. Frequent shuttle ferries (''vaporetta'') connect different points on the main island of Venice and other outlying islands of the lagoon. In addition, there are direct shuttle boats between Venice and the

Venice Marco Polo Airport Venice Marco Polo Airport is the international airport of Venice, Italy. It is located on the mainland near the village of Tessera, a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' of Venice located about east of Mestre (on the mainland) and around the same ...

Ports and harbours

Aerial view - Harbour of Genoa, Italy - DSC01156

Italy has been the final destination of the Silk Road for many centuries. In particular, the construction of the Suez Canal intensified sea trade with East Africa and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

from the 19th century. Since the end of the Cold War and increasing European integration, the trade relations, which were often interrupted in the 20th century, have intensified again. Because of its long seacoast, Italy also has many harbors for the transportation of both goods and passengers. In 2004 there were 43 major seaports including the

, the country's largest and the third busiest by cargo tonnage in the

. Due to the increasing importance of the maritime Silk Road with its connections to Asia and East Africa, the Italian ports for Central and

in the northernmost part of the Mediterranean Sea is the target of Italian, Asian and European investments.

Air transport

Airlines

Since October 2021, Italy's

airline is

, which took over the brand, the IATA ticketing code, and many assets belonging to the former flag carrier

, after its bankruptcy. ITA Airways serves 44 destinations () and also operates the former Alitalia regional subsidiary, Alitalia CityLiner. The country also has regional airlines (such as

Air Dolomiti Air Dolomiti S.p.A. is an Italian regional airline with its head office in Dossobuono, Villafranca di Verona, Italy, operating base at Verona Villafranca Airport and focus cities at Munich Airport and Frankfurt Airport in Germany.Neos,

Blue Panorama Airlines Blue Panorama Airlines S.p.A. was an Italian airline headquartered in Fiumicino operating scheduled and charter flights mostly to domestic and international leisure destinations. As of late 2021, the airline was in the process to change its bran ...

and Poste Air Cargo). Major Italian cargo operators are ITA Airways Cargo and

Cargolux Italia Cargolux Italia S.p.A. is an Italian cargo airline, set up as a joint venture between various Italian investors and Cargolux Cargolux, legally ''Cargolux Airlines International S.A.'', is a Luxembourgian flag carrier cargo airline with its ...

. In 2012 there were 130 airports in Italy, including the two hubs of

in Milan and

in Rome.

Airports

Italy is the fifth in Europe by number of passengers by air transport, with about 148 million passengers or about 10% of the European total in 2011. Most of passengers in Italy are on international flights (57%). A big share of domestic flights connect the major islands (

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

and

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

) to the mainland. Domestic flights between major Italian cities as

and

still play a relevant role but are declining since the opening of the Italian high-speed rail network in recent years. Italy has a total as of 130 airports in 2012, of which 99 have paved runways: *''over 3,047 m:'' 9 *''2,438 to 3,047 m:'' 31 *''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 18 *''914 to 1,523 m:'' 29 *''under 914 m:'' 12 Airports - with unpaved runways in 2012: *''total:'' 31 *''1,524 to 2,437 m:'' 1 *''914 to 1,523 m:'' 11 *''under 914 m:'' 19

Busiest airports

This is a list of the top ten busiest airports in Italy in 2017.

Bus

There are long-distance intercity buses run by local companies, but the services are infrequent during the week and usually provide a secondary link to railway services. Italy does not have a nationwide coach operator. However, in 2015, the British company

Megabus (Europe) Megabus is a long distance coach ( Intercity bus service) operator founded by Stagecoach, it commenced operating in August 2003, initially in the United Kingdom, and later expanding into continental Europe. Some services link with Megatrain se ...

launched daily intercity bus services on several domestic routes This makes a daily total of 12 services in each direction between Rome and Bologna. Flixbus, a company founded in the course of the opening of the German intercity bus market also serves routes in Italy both domestic and international.

Airport shuttle

Airport shuttle buses, however, are highly developed and convenient for rail travellers. Most airports in Italy are not connected to the railway network, except for Rome Fiumicino Airport, Milan Malpensa Airport and Turin Caselle Airport. In Bologna, a light-rail track has been constructed and inaugurated in November 2020, connecting Bologna Airport to the main railway station, while Line 1 of

Naples Metro The Naples Metro ( it, Metropolitana di Napoli; nap, Metrupulitana 'e Napule) is the rapid transit system serving the city of Naples, Italy. The system comprises three underground rapid transit lines ( Line 1, Line 6 and the Naples-Aversa Me ...

is set to finally reach Capodichino Airport and connect it to the

central station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

and the

city center A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

in 2024. * Venice: Venezia-Mestre station - Marco Polo Airport (50 minutes) and Treviso Airport * Milan: Milano Centrale station - Malpensa Airport (1 hour 5 minutes), Linate Airport (35 minutes) and Milan Bergamo Airport (1 hour) * Brescia: Brescia station - Milan Bergamo Airport (1 hour) * Rome: Rome Termini station - Fiumicino Airport by train * Verona: Verona Porta Nuova station - Villafranca "Catullo" Airport (20 minutes) * Bologna: Centrale station - Bologna Airport (20 minutes) - Route modified in November 2020. It shifted from route BLQ (Bologna Centrale Station-Bologna Airport) to route 944 Ospedale Maggiore-Bologna Airport * Pescara Centrale station - Abruzzo Airport (10 minutes) * Florence: Firenze S M Novella station - Florence Airport

Local bus

Local buses are usually divided into urban (''urbano'') and suburban (''interurbano'' or ''extraurbano'') lines.

References

External links

{{Transportation in Europe