On New Eurostar Trains, Riding Is a Lot Like Flying

Soon after my wife and I had departed Venice for Florence, a uniformed attendant pushed the beverage cart down the aisle. He offered newspapers, complimentary soft drinks and coffee, cookies, peanuts and earphones. I plugged into the train’s stereo classical system, pushed an electrical button to adjust my well-cushioned seat and settled back to enjoy my flight. Oops, make that ride.

We were in first class on one of Italy’s newest high-speed trains, the Eurostar Italia, where riding is a lot like flying--except that you can watch the glorious northern Italian countryside flash by through panoramic windows. And there is not a tremor of turbulence, air or otherwise. These trains, built by Italy’s HSR Comet consortium, sport airconditioning and plush interiors and provide most of the standard in-flight services to which air travelers are accustomed, although there are no films.

They have become the easiest and most comfortable way to get between Italy’s major cities since they went into service in 1996. And the most affordable.

The two-hour, 40-minute trip from Venice to Florence cost just under $60 each in first class. In second class, the price is about $48. (Warning: You cannot get on the Eurostar without a reservation.)

Alitalia, the Italian airline, quotes a one-way fare between Venice and Florence of $128.

Eurostar Italia should not be confused with the higher-priced Eurostar service beneath the English Channel between London, Brussels and Paris.

The longest Eurostar route, the 524-mile trip between Milan and Naples, takes six hours, 30 minutes. In first class, Milan-Naples costs $113, in second-class, $54. (The train stops in Bologna, Florence and Rome.)

But the fastest Eurostar Italia runs at 186 mph on the Milan-Rome corridor. That 392-mile trip takes four hours, 25 minutes (with stops in Bologna and Florence); the time is the same between Venice and Rome (with stops in Padua, Bologna and Florence).

Daytime service is almost hourly on the Milan-Rome route, according to Salvatore Polizzi, official representative of CIT, an agency of the Italian State Railroads.

Painted in gleaming green and white, our 11-car train looked like a plane without wings as it waited for us the Venice station. We boarded a nonsmoking car and found our seats. (There are smoking cars too.)

Luggage is stored overhead or on shelves at one end of each car, and business travelers can reserve compartments with hookups for computers and telephones (with cards).

An attendant took reservations for a formal lunch in the 30-seat dining car--an option for which passengers pay extra. We bought hot sandwiches and soft drinks (about $5 each) in the snack bar and ate at our seats.

To book Eurostar Italia or other European trains, call Rail Europe, (800) 438-7245, or the Italian State Railroads agency, (800)-248-7245 (CIT-RAIL).