Train, Rome

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Two metro lines are insufficient for a city as big as Rome (3 million inhabitants); a third is under construction.
There are many busses but they are usually crowded.

It can therefore be useful to take profit of the urban railways and regional railways who are accessible with the same ticket, for example BIT ticket, as the metro and busses within limits of territorial validity which are rather large. See my pic n° 4 and the maps on www.atac.roma.it

The 3 urban railways "Ferrovie Urbane" are:
Roma - Lido di Ostia;
Roma - Civitacastellana - Viterbo;
Roma - Pantano.

There are 8 "Ferrovie Regionale" regional railways of which the useful ones for moving inside the city are:

FR1 (Orte/Fara Sabina - Fiumicino Aeroporto);
FR2 (Tivoli - Roma Tiburtina);
FR3 (Cesano/Viterbo - Roma Ostiense);
FR4 (Castelli Romani - Roma Termini);
FR5 (Civitavecchia - Roma Termini).

I used to take the FR3 going to the North and deserving the Monte Mario area.
The trains are double deck, comfortable and clean inside but heavily tagged outside as well as the stations who don't look welcoming except the S. Pietro station (correspondence with bus 64) at about 700 m south from the Piazza S.Pietro. This train FR3 gives correspondence with Metro A at Valle Aurelia station and Metro B at his terminal Ostiense station.
All this with the normal BIT ticket at 1 €. In the week a train every 15 minutes, on Sunday every 30 minutes. As the BIT ticket is only valid for 75 minutes, have it validated when the train arrives at your station, not before.
The FR3 trains and stations seemed safe at least when I took them in day time.
Note that rails and platform are called "binario" in Italian

I would not recommend the Overnight train between Rome to Venice. It is a long journey of up to 9 hours and you don't always get a good sleep. Recently my brother and I took the eurostar service from Rome to Venice during the day and it was relaxing and quick. With this service you must reserve a seat and the time goes very quickly. For example, the 06:50 train from Rome Termini to Stazione Santa Lucia in Venezia (Venice) takes 4 hours 27 minutes. See trenitalia.it for more details.

Roma Termini is the name of the Central Station in Rome. There are 2 metro lines in Rome and they both go through Termini. This station is also a coach pick up point for the Ciampino Airport (about 40 minutes drive).

Italian trains can be confusing and overwhelming; specifically if its your first time in Rome and you feel rushed. The following tips will help to ease the confusion.

- Dont always look for your train by the city your going to. Many trains end up at a different destination with your stop simply being one of many. Look for your train by the time its leaving and the train number and then go to the assigned platform.

- If your stop is not the end of the line be ready with your bags before the train comes to your stop. The train does not stop for long so you dont want to be scrambling with your bags after the train has stopped. Stops are not always announced. The best way to be prepared is, assuming the train leaves on time, simply be ready to exit the train about five minutes before the time of arrival on your ticket.

- Finding your seat is easy. Your ticket will assign you a location like this - 8:107 - this means you are in train car 8 and seat 107

Termini is the main train station in Rome and there are trains going to/from pretty much every city in Italy. Just buy a ticket either at the counter or the ticket machines near the platforms. If you're going to/from the Leonardo da Vinci (Fiumicino) airport, there is a special train that takes you directly to/from there for much cheaper than a taxi (it also runs pretty much every hour).

Just a few tips:

-remember to get your ticket stamped at the yellow machine on the platform. Just stick the ticket in, it gets stamped automatically. If you don't do this and your ticket gets checked on the train, you might have to pay a fine.
-trains don't always run on time in Italy, especially the cheaper trains. My train coming back to Rome from Assisi was late, and so was the connecting train in Foligno.
-watch out for pickpockets in Termini. This station is notorious for having thieves prowling around.

When you arrive on the airport of Rome, and you buy a trainticket to the city, you better buy a return ticket, so you don't have to waste time when you're going back to the airport by waiting in the line for buying a trainticket.

We stayed just outside Rome in a little village called Campoleone (full of vineyards!) which had it's own train station and regular trains into Rome. The journey was 15-20 minutes and the trains were always clean (apart from the grafitti which is everywhere) and mostly on time. We decided to buy the 24 hour ticket, or B.I.R.G. this entitled us to travel into Rome on the train and then use unlimited buses and the Metro. It was only 7euros which we found to be great value, especially towards the end of our trip when we were hopping on and off the Metro and the buses almost all day. Walking around Rome is fantastic, the scenery is amazing, but sometimes you really need a ride!

There is a left luggage at Termini station, which is really handy. It costs 4 euro for 5 hours, then the rate increases to 6 euro for 6 hours - 12 hours. It can be left much longer than that, overnight I think, but I didn't look at the prices for those.

It is situated down the corridor to the train to the airport. It is really well sign posted so you shouldn't miss it. If coming up from the Metro it is straight ahead.