The Italian State Railway, Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) (tel: 06 44101; www.ferroviedellostato.it), runs a fast, efficient and good value service throughout the country. Tickets can be purchased by credit card online (and then either picked up at one of the automatic ticket machines dotted across Rome station or aboard the train if you choose the ‘ticketless' option during the web transaction) or by phone at the number above.

Stazione Termini, Piazza Cinquecento, is Rome's main station. Its extensive facilities include left-luggage, carabinieri (army) and police stations, a tourist information office, a hotel reservation point, an Internet point, money exchange, banks with ATMs, a post office, car and scooter hire, a ticket agency selling tickets for concerts and sporting events, bars, restaurants and over 100 shops (including the supermarket Conad) selling everything from clothes to gifts.

Other important stations include Tiburtina, Piazzale della Stazione Tiburtina; Trastevere, Piazza F Biondo, at the end of Viale Trastevere; and Ostiense, Piazzale Ostiense. Automatic ticket machines are located in all main stations. Tickets must be validated in the yellow machines located on the station platforms prior to boarding, in order to avoid fines.

Rail services: Most long-distance trains run to Termini station, which is also the main hub for the local transport network (metro and bus). However, the importance of the less central stations (Tiburtina and Ostiense) grows as the night draws on and trains cease to run to Termini station.

All international trains, including direct services to Paris (journey time - 13 hours to Gare de Lyon; 14 hours 20 minutes to Paris Bercy), Munich (journey time - 11 hours), Vienna (journey time - 13 hours) and Zurich (journey time - 12 hours), leave from Termini station.

Intercity or InterCity Plus (in some cases) trains run from Termini to all major Italian cities, including Florence, Naples and Milan. Venice can only be reached on the Eurostar Italia service (journey time - 4 hours 30 minutes), otherwise Intercity trains take around 6 hours.

Eurostar trains are at least 20% more expensive but also faster since they only stop at major cities like Florence (journey time - 1 hour 40 minutes), Bologna (journey time - 2 hours 40 minutes), Milan (journey time - 4 hours 30 minutes) and Naples (journey time - 1 hour 50 minutes). Tickets for Eurostar trains are always accompanied by a reservation for a specific train; if you miss that train you have to go to the ticket counter and pay the booking fee again. 

Italy's new North-South high-speed rail line means that AV Eurostar (Alta Velocità) -high speed trains travel to Naples in 1 hour 20 minutes, to Milan in 3 hours 30 minutes, and Bologna in 1 hour 5 minutes.