Paperless train travel in Italy

The majority of domestic Italian trains, including high-speed and overnight trains, now offer paperless tickets. You'll simply receive a ticket reference code to present to the ticket inspector on board, no printing required. Anyone can book paperless travel, regardless of location, and there's no delivery charge or risk of lost tickets.

Choosing your delivery method

When you search for Italian trains on Loco2, "Paperless" will appear as the delivery method for applicable tickets. This is sometimes referred to as "ticketless" on other websites. You'll find ticket delivery method first on your Ticket Details page, as shown below:

There are only a few trains which don't offer paperless tickets in Italy, e.g. some regional trains or international services. For these, you may be offered print-at-home tickets.

Receiving your reference for travel

When your booking is complete, you'll receive an email confirming your itinerary and ticket details. This email also contains a 6-character reference, called a PNR (Passenger Name Record), which acts as your paperless ticket and must be presented to the ticket inspector on board the train.

Travelling with a paperless ticket reference

Paperless tickets means that you won't have a physical ticket to present on the train. Simply quote your PNR reference, which can be found on your confirmation email, to the ticket inspector. You can present the reference in any format, from your phone, a tablet or however you see fit. The reference serves as your ticket and is all that is required for travel.

Before travel, you should make a note of your reference, train times and seat numbers. The simplest thing may be to print off your confirmation email since it contains all the information, but this isn't compulsory.

The conductor cannot access your reservation without the code, for example searching by your name or Loco2 order reference, so you must have the reference before your board the train. Travellers without a valid reference may be liable to pay a fine or purchase new tickets.

If you have purchased return tickets, the PNR reference supplied in your booking confirmation email will be valid for your outbound and inbound journeys.

We have had a few isolated incidences where Swiss ticket agents have not recognized paperless Trenitalia references at the station. Please note that you do not need to show this reference to Swiss staff at the station nor do you need to collect anything at the station. Trenitalia staff will check your ticket on your international train.

Do I need to validate my tickets?

It is not necessary to validate tickets at the station since paperless journeys are bound to a specific time, date and train.

If you have a paper ticket that has been collected from a self-service machine, you may be required to validate your ticket prior to travel. Please see our Help article Validating tickets at the station.