Finally a faster, more comfortable way to get to Rome for those visiting the eternal city on a day excursion from the port of Civitavecchia (€16.50 round trip - see here).

After a few days test period for the service (which ran in October 2010), on April 2011 Trenitalia, in collaboration with 2 other privately owned transportation companies, has begun regular offering of a seasonal Fast Track Express train for round trip service to Rome St. Peter's station.

See the newspaper press release announcing the new awaited service: Original Italian Version, English version translated with Google Tranlste

This NON-Stop train reaches Rome in only 40 minutes, and connects the Port of Rome (Civitavecchia) to St. Peter's station in Rome (near the Vatican). Departure: Civitavecchia train station 9:30 AM arrives at Rome (St. Peter's station) at 10:10 AM Return: Rome (St. Peter's station) 4:40 PM arrives at Civitavecchia train station at 5:20 PM NOTE: This service does not run on a regular schedule. It is offered only on those days where there is a much higher affluence of cruise line traffic (see schedule/availability in the Book Now Section of this page).

A Bit of History

For years the local government has tried different approaches in the attempt to resolve the overcrowding of regional trains on Trenitalia FR5 Tract (Connecting Civitavecchia with Rome), that has brought so much discontent into the local population of commuters.

There are approximately 60,000 commuters that move on the Civitavecchia-Rome line for work or school. Local commuters buy a yearly pass to the Regional trains that connect the port to Rome (as well as all the several in-between smaller town).

During the high season for Mediterranean cruises, which runs from April into late October, there are several days during the week when more than 18,000 passengers disembark the cruse ships wanting to reach Rome. On those higher traffic days Trenitalia has dad a real problem offering acceptable service to both commuters and tourists. On many of those days the local regional trains offer only cramped stand up space and have had serious problems with the air conditioning keeping the temperature at comfortable levels. Only few months ago the problem became so severe that in May 2011 the commuters in Ladispoli (a town few stops away from Civitavecchia) were unable to enter the regional train because it had already reached (and passed) full capacity. This caused a revolt where the commuters, tired of a recurring problem, got in front of the train and interrupted the FR5 line for six hours. See one of the local newspaper articles discussing the event: original Italian version | English version translated with Google Translate. This kind of issue has brought the local commuters to create a committee that has been assisting in safeguarding all passengers' rights.

Civitavecchia-Rome Train Issues in the Press

Press release announcing the new awaited Fast Track Train service: Original Italian Version | English version (using Google Tranlste)

Here are just a few samples of the frequent local press articles regarding the problems with regional trains connecting the Port with Rome:

• Commuters class action against Trenitalia: original Italian version | English version (using Google Translate)
• Commuters block the train going to Rome in protest: original Italian version | English version (using Google Translate)
• News of the Commuters' protest in the national papers: original Italian version | English version (using Google Translate)

For more information see the Local Commuters Committee web site

SmartCruiseTours.com Offering the Sale of the Special Fast Track Train Online

Here at SmartCruiseTours.com we are proud to be actively involved in contributing to the solution to the above illustrated transportation problem on the FR5 train tract connecting Civitavecchia with Rome.

By providing information regarding this new service to the international community of cruise travelers, and by further offering online purchases of trains services not previously offered online, we feel we are bringing a positive and strong contribution to the improvement of the service offered to cruise travelers.

Fast Track Express Train Excursions >>