Operator: Trenitalia
Headcode: FR8823
Route: BLQ-RIM
Class: 2nd Class – Premium
Seat: C6 S7D
Date: Sunday 8th January 2023
Bologna is one of Italy’s major railway crossroads, with high-speed, inter-city, regional and local lines intersecting at the city’s main station, Bologna Centrale. Having arrived into the underground platforms that serve the high-speed Turin to Salerno route (via Milan, Bologna, Florence & Rome), I had made my way through the underground maze to reach the station’s ground level platforms.
Whilst my journey from Milan to Bologna had been in Business class (read about that here), I had decided to try out the Premium class product for this leg of the trip. Sitting between Standard and Business in Trenitalia’s class structure, Premium is the equivalent of Premium Economy on airlines, as it is essentially the base standard product with a little bit extra.
Whereas my journey from Milan to Bologona was on a Frecciarossa ETR 1000, my journey towards Italy’s eastern coast was onboard an older ETR 500. The first generation of the ETR 500 were introduced in the early 1990s as the first dedicated trains for the Direttissima (Italy’s first high-speed line), however a much larger second generation, dual voltage, fleet were introduced in the early 2000s as the high-speed network began to grow.
The difference made to journey times by the Italian high-speed network are clear to see, especially when you compare the high-speed and inter-city services. With my Bologna to Rimini service having also started at Milan, it had taken 112 minutes and four intermediate stops to reach Bologna on the ‘classic’ route via Parma, whereas the service I had taken via the high-speed line had taken just 64 minutes with no stops. With journey time savings like that, its clear to see why domestic flights in Italy are on the decline.
Our ETR 500 was an 11-car variant (8-car variants operate between Turin and Milan) with one coach split between Executive and Business class, another three dedicated to Business class, one with the onboard Bistro and then one for Premium class and five for Standard. In Premium class the leather seats are laid out in a 2+2 configuration either side of the aisle with all seats in groups of four around a table. Whilst this is advantageous in providing all seats with a decent table, it does mean limited leg room if you end up with other passengers opposite you.
I was lucky and managed to find an empty table, providing plenty of space to spread out for the 65 minute journey to the south-east. Whilst this service is ran under the Frecciarossa or ‘Red Arrow’ branding, it acts more like an Inter-city service with additional stops compared to some of the services on the route. On this journey we had three intermediate stops at the towns of Faenza, Forli and Cesena which added 10 or so minutes to the quickest journey time between Bologna and Rimini.
Personally I found the seats in Premium a little narrow but certainly comfortable. With the space to spread out and power sockets under the tables, I had intended to do some research and writing, however struggled to connect to the onboard Wi-Fi. I hadn’t had any issues on the previous leg, so can only assume there was an issue with the tech onboard this particular train. The lack of Wi-Fi and poor phone signal on this section of route scuppered my plans to do some work and so I settled in to enjoy some music whilst we sped through the darkness.
The main additional perk that you get in Premium class compared to Standard class is a drink and a snack. These are the same as offered in Business class without the alcohol, and so there’s a range of soft drinks along with either a sweet or savoury snack. Having had a sweet snack on my previous journey, I decided to see what the savoury offering was and was delighted to be given a small packet of TUC crackers, a snack that I rarely have but absolutely love.
With darkness outside the window, there wasn’t much to see and we were soon approaching my final destination for the day, the historic coastal city of Rimini. Whilst this trip and the others throughout the day had been enjoyable, I was glad to be reaching the end of the day’s travels. Even better, I was basing myself in Rimini for two days, allowing me to actually unpack and not carry my large bag around the following day.
With two back-to-back journeys in different classes onboard Trenitalia I’ve got to say I’m impressed. Both of my trains were on time and comfortable. With four classes of travel, I do think Trenitalia struggles to provide each with a unique selling point, and Premium probably struggles the most with only a snack differentiating between it and Standard. I think in future, if I wasn’t able to travel in Business, I would probably only opt for Premium if the price difference to Standard was minimal in the hope that the extra few Euros would gain me an emptier coach.
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 3*
Food 3*
Service 5*
Punctuality 5*
Overall Rating 16/25 (read about my rating system here!)
Flights & Times 
One thought on “BLQ-RIM Trenitalia Frecciarossa – Premium Class”