Trenitalia vs. ItaliaRail: Is Trenitalia the Same as ItaliaRail?
- Nathaniel Mellor
- Nov 30
- 2 min read
Updated: Dec 1
Are they the same? Which is better? Which should you choose?
This article is part of Only A Bag's Quick Answer series. No fluff, no AI, just information.
When you're looking to buy a train ticket in Italy, you will find that there a few main sites that pop up in regards to the ticket. TrenItalia, ItaliaRail, Italo, and even RailEurope, Omio, and Trainline.
With all of these options, it can feel overwhelming to make the right choice, which is why you're here!
So, is Trenitalia the same as ItaliaRail?
No. Trenitalia is a nationally-owned rail company. ItaliaRail is a subsidiary of the famous "Eurail pass" company, InterRail. Like Omio or Trainline, they are a reseller of tickets, they don't operate trains.
Why should I buy tickets on ItaliaRail instead of Trenitalia?
As mentioned, Trenitalia is the bread-and butter train service in Italy. Whether your need a fast train from Rome to Milan, or a regional train from Salerno to Scalea, you're gonna be on a TrenItalia-owned line.
Some confusion can arise when looking at the different types of trains offered through Trenitalia. These can almost look like different companies (such as InterCity, Regionale, Frecciarossa, etc.), but they aren't, merely the names for the different services.
Likewise, some people, mostly tourists based in the United States, can have trouble with purchasing a ticket through Trenitalia.
Even though Trenitalia accepts all major credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal, issues might still pop up when you're trying to pay. (Even recently, with Darcy and I, we bought a ticket 3 times through the website and each time the purchase failed but the charge went through on the card. Don't panic if this happens to you! We waited an hour or two and found that the charges were reversed and the 4th purchase finally went through.)
In this case, buying a ticket through a reseller isn't a bad option. You know that the purchase will go through, and the ticket is still valid, so there are very few downsides (which we will get into later).
Why should I buy tickets on Trenitalia instead of ItaliaRail?
One of ItaliaRail's classic offerings is a ticket bundle, or ticket pass. You can ride X amount of times within a set window (usually a week, sometimes a month) all on the same ticket, like the old-school Eurail pass.
Recently (as of 2025) Trenitalia now has their own pass for the same purpose, so ItaliaRail has lost one of the few advantages.
Most of the time, tickets through Trenitalia are cheaper, the discounts are better, and now that they have an English website, there's less friction to getting started.
