City transport in general and other Rome, Italy Transportation Tips

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Rome's city transport is surprisingly good. With only two metro lines it can't be perfect, but when Metro C is completed, it will be a lot better.
In addition to metro, there are six tram lines, three very useful electrical minibus lines in the historic centre, Roma-Lido and Roma-Viterbo railway lines, Roma-Pantano light railway line, lots of bus lines covering the areas where rails don't reach and even a trolley bus line!
Stops for all lines, as well as first and last departures are listed in every tram and bus stop, so it's easy to find out which line you should use. And certainly print out rail transport and electric-powered lines' maps on Atac's website, they are very useful.
Tickets are indeed reasonably-priced, 16 euros for a week is a bargain.

Ticket types and prices:
BIT - Integrated Time Ticket. Valid 75 minutes, cost 1 €.
BIG – Integrated Daily Ticket. Valid on the day validated, not for 24 hours! Cost 4 €
BTI – Integrated Tourist Ticket. Valid till the third day after validation. Cost 11 €
CIS – Integrated Weekly Ticket. Valid till the seventh day after validation. Cost 16 €

Tickets can be bought for example from train stations and Tabaccherie, there are lots of ticket selling places in Rome. In some trams and buses there are ticket machines where you can buy single tickets. Ticket machines are also in metro stations. Drivers don't sell tickets.
And, last but not least, always remember to validate your ticket! Validation machines are in metro turnstiles, all trams and buses. Just enter your ticket and it comes out from the other end. Period tickets have to be validated when used first time, but you have to enter them in the machine every time you use metro. Don't worry, it won't stamp it again! Period tickets must be filled in with your personal information - name and date of birth.

Although I used city transport a lot in Rome, my ticket wasn't checked even once. I saw ticket inspectors once, but the bus was really full of people, so they didn't bother coming in. I also saw gate-jumpers in the metro couple of times, they were caught by guards. Anyway, don't even think riding without a ticket, penalty fares are high!

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Website: http://www.atac.roma.it/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Let's begin with technical side. Unlike most metro systems, the one in Rome is actually a standard gauge urban railway gaining power from overhead 1.5 kV direct current power line.
There are two relatively fast lines travelling up to 80 kph. On line A there are new air-conditioned trains, on line B old trains totally covered with graffiti are still running. Lines cross at stazione Termini. Trains are running quite chaotically, sometimes the next train is coming in one minute, sometimes in five. Trains aren't ususally very overcrowded, of course there are more people using the metro at peak hours.

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Website: http://www.metroroma.it/MetroRoma/HTML/EN

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Metro line A is actually the newest metro line in Rome. New air conditioned trains are running, making the ride quite pleasant on a hot day. The line takes you near Vatican, Piazza di Spagna, Fontana di Trevi and Piazza della Repubblica, for example. It intersects to line B under stazione Termini. Trains have diplays to announce stations, but they're often out of order. On some trains stations are also announced acoustically.
Due to construction of metro line C, metro A closes daily at 21.30. It's replaced by buses MA1 and MA2, stopping near metro stations. And hold on to the handgrips, these buses are trying to keep up to the speed of trains! :)

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Website: http://www.metroroma.it/MetroRoma/HTML/EN

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Metro line B is the oldest line of Rome's rapid transit. Old graffiti-covered trains are running on this line. They get hot in the summer - open windows help a bit, but of course make the ride noisier. The line takes you to Colosseo and Roma Tiburtina railway station, for example, intersecting line A under stazione Termini. Stations are announced acoustically (also in English) on some trains.
A new branch of the line, B1, is under construction.

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Website: http://www.metroroma.it/MetroRoma/HTML/EN

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Rome desperately needs third metro line - there are many places where rails don't reach. So finally, construction works of metro C are underway, causing restrictions on several other rail lines. It will run from Pantano to Clodio Mazzini, intersecting to line A in Ottaviano and San Giovanni and line B in Colosseo. The trains will be, of course, fully automatic. First section should be in service by 2011, but in Italy trains are sometimes late...

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Website: http://www.metroroma.it/MetroRoma/HTML/EN

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Rome's broad gauge tram tracks make the ride very stabile. There are 6 tram lines, 2 of which running all the way to Trastevere. The main hub is Porta Maggiore a few stops from stazione Termini, lines 3, 5, 14 and 19 intersect there, as well as Roma-Pantano railway line. Take tram 5 or 14 to Via Giovanni Amendola for Roma Termini, 19 for Vatican City. Step on tram number 8 and it will take you all the way to Argentina :)
The old TAS trams dating far back to last century are really classic. Newer, partially low-floor SOCIMI trams have doors and driver's cabins on both ends, so they can run in both directions. The newest, partially low-floor Cityway trams on line 8 aren't exactly what you'd expect of a modern European tram, but then again, they're running in an ancient Italian city, so it's more about soul and passion... Damn, now I'm gonna have to but an euro in my Italian cliché swear box.
I stayed in a B&B near Via Prenestina, so I used trams several times a day to get in the city center. In daytime the trams are very frequent, often the next tram coming right after the previous one. In the evening, service is dramatically reduced. On line 3, there are major restrictions at the moment, due to construction of metro line C. In weekdays, trams on line 3 are replaced by buses, but no bus can normally replace rail transport, so they are packed! There are also some restrictions on other tram lines in the evenings.
Stop names are not announced on trams.

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Website: http://www.atac.roma.it/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: There's one trolley bus line in Rome, the 90 Express departing outside stazione Termini. Overhead wires, however, don't cover the whole line, so near Termini the buses run on batteries. Solaris trolley buses familiar from many European cities are running on the line.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: There are loads of bus lines in Rome, which take you wherever the rails don't reach. Simple low-floor city buses by Mercedes-Benz and other Central-European manufacturers are running. There are also some express routes that don't stop everywhere. Most of the bus lines stop working a bit after midnight, but night buses take you home safely.
Buses are air-conditioned, of course, but as windows are usually opened, it's still getting hot in there. In couple of evenings, though, I caught buses that were like fridges!
On peak hours, buses might get packed, but at daytime, it's usually not that bad.
Stops are not announced, but there's a route display in each bus.

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Website: http://www.atac.roma.it/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Roma-Pantano light railway line doesn't have much to offer for a railway enthusiast, neither is it running in a very beautiful neighbourhood. I found a nice pizzeria near Alessi stop, though. Being a narrow gauge line, it doesn't provide much speed, which is similar to trams. Stops are frequent and so are departures. You can catch a train at Porta Maggiore or Laziali terminus near stazione Termini.

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Website: http://www.atac.roma.it/

'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: Frequent Trenitalia trains take you from Rome's biggest airport to the city center in 30-50 minutes. I prefer FR 1 regional train to Roma Tiburtina station where you can easily take metro B to Termini or anywhere else on the metro. Trains depart every 20 minutes and take 45 minutes to Tiburtina, ticket is 5.50. Another possibility and the most convenient one is to take Leonardo Express departing every 30 minutes to Termini. Train takes just over 30 minutes but in my opinion is badly overpriced (as is FR 1 compared to other train lines - you can get for example to Fondi-Sperlonga 100 km from Rome for just 6 euros). If you're going from city to the airport in the morning's peak hour, Leonardo Express might be worth the extra price since the regional train is very crowded and it isn't fun to get in and out of the train in every station with all your luggage. The train station is conveniently situated in airport and there's no problem finding it. The tickets can be bought in the station - just remember to validate them in the yellow machine on the platform before boarding. For information about using the ticket selling machines, check my "Trenitalia trains" chapter.

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Website: http://www.ferroviedellostato.it/ferrovie/util/inglese.jsp