The national railway system of Italy operates the main railway routes in Puglia as far south as Lecce. Overall it is reliable and easy to use. Times and fare options can be viewed via the Trenitalia website, and bookings can be made online, although it is not usually necessary for journeys within Puglia, especially on Regional trains, where trains can be conveniently bought at stations. All the stations have automatic ticket machines which take credit card payments and are easy to use. In many places nearby newsagents, tobacconists and coffee bars have a licence to sell tickets. Only the very large stations have staffed ticket offices and there can be queues; so don’t hesitate to use the machines or other sales outlets.

For most trips within Puglia, Regional trains will be the cheapest and most convenient option. These can be fairly basic, although the rolling stock is being upgraded very rapidly, and the newer coaches are very impressive, often one of the recently acquired Pop trains.

 

The national system of Freccia and Intercity trains run on the key parts of the network, stopping at main stations. These trains have to be booked in advance. They are very spatious and comfortable; we suggest maybe using them for longer trips within Puglia eg between Barletta and Brindisi, Bari and Lecce. They are about twice as expensive as Regional trains, although online advance booking can throw up useful discounts.

The key element of the FS network consists of a main east coast spine route running through from San Severo to Lecce via Foggia/Barletta/Bari/Brindisi (the main Rome rail connection joins this at Foggia). The main stations are served by Freccia and Intercity trains. However cheap Regional trains serve all the towns on this route including Trani, Bisceglie, Giovanezza, Polignano, Monopoli, Fasano, Ostuni.

If you are spending only a short time in Puglia, it is probably best to stay in one of these places and confine your visits to other places on this main spine along the east coast. Trains are fairly frequent, at least hourly for most of the day. Tickets are obtainable at the big stations from staffed offices; card-accepting machines on all stations; or from nearby bars/newsagents. Online booking is easy enough, you can download tickets to a phone or print them off.

Other parts of the national rail system in Puglia are:

  • Bari-Taranto, serving Goia di Collo and Masafra
  • Brindisi-Taranto, serving Mesagne, Francavilla Fontana, Manduria and Grottaglie
  • from Taranto south along the Ionian coast into Calabria at Metaponto; (trains run from Taranto through Metaponto along the coast to Reggio Calabria and inland to Potenza and Naples).

Places served by the main FS network

The following places are all accessible using the national rail system.

San Severo

Foggia

Barletta

Trani

Bisceglie

Molfetta

Govinazzo

Bari

Polignano a Mare

Monopoli

Ostuni

Brindisi

Lecce

Mesagne

Oria

Francavilla Fontana

Grottaglie

Taranto

Massafra

Goia del Colle

Metaponto.