TAV: Taking the new fast train from Rome to Milan

The newest in Italy’s growing family of high-speed train started operating Dec. 13 between Rome and Milan.

Once the TAV (Treno Alto Velocita) pulls out of Rome’s Termini or Milan’s Central Station, the 300-mile trip takes 3 hours and 30 minutes, a half-hour less than Trenitalia’s regular intercity service.

The Rome-Milan TAV train joins the Rome-Florence Direttissima, Europe’s first high-speed train opened in 1978, and the Rome-Naples and Turin-Milan high-speed trains, which have been operating since 2006.

The Italian railway aims to complete a wide network of high-speed lines, allowing travelers to use accelerated service all the way from Turin in the north to Salerno, 45 miles south of Naples, by the end of the decade.

However, work on a TAV line connecting Turin to Lyon, France, was halted in 2006 due to environmentalists’ concerns over the construction of a 33-mile cross-border tunnel under the Alps.

The new Rome-Milan TAV service costs about $90 one way for a second-class ticket, compared with about $120 for the least-expensive airfare between the two cities.

But time as much as cost is of the essence, according to railroad analysts, who say that the Rome-Milan train must shave 30 minutes off the trip to make it an attractive alternative to flying.

Work to do so by improving the section of track between Florence and Bologna is currently underway, expected to be completed in 2010 when TAV hopes it’s all aboard.

– Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times staff writer

[Photos: Susan Spano / Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 4:31 pm by Susan Spano and is filed under Business Travel, Europe, France, Italy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.