Trentino Trasporti

Trentino Trasporti is the public transport company for the Provincia autonoma di Trento: buses, cablecars, and the region's own rail line. That line is the Trento-Malè-Mezzana railway (FTM), marketed as the Dolomiti Express. It is a narrow-gauge mountain railway, climbing from Trento through the Adige valley and the Piana Rotaliana wine country into the Val di Non and Val di Sole. The Trento terminal sits a short walk from the main Trenitalia station, so changing from a national train takes only a few minutes.

The route

The engineering matches the terrain. Curves as tight as 80 metres, gradients up to 50 per mille: this is a proper Alpine mountain line. Past Mezzolombardo the track climbs into the Val di Non, crosses the Noce gorge near the Santa Giustina dam on a high arch bridge, then threads its longest tunnel into the Val di Sole. Since July 2016 the line has run to a new terminus at Mezzana, about 11 km beyond the old endpoint at Malè.

Winter trains time their arrival to meet the ski lifts at Daolasa and Marilleva 900. From there, lifts connect on to Folgarida-Marilleva and Madonna di Campiglio, an integrated rail-to-cableway arrangement built to keep cars off the road to the slopes.

Trentino Trasporti also runs the Trento-Borgo Valsugana-Bassano service (FTB), along the former Valsugana rail corridor, with its own seasonal timetable.

Tickets and fares

Regional tickets cover both buses and trains, priced by distance band: €1.10 for the shortest hops, up to €5.80 for journeys of 100 km. Buy at the Trento bus station, the Trento-Malè-Marilleva rail station, other stations along the line, authorised sellers or ticket machines. Buying on board costs €0.50 more than the ordinary fare, so it pays to buy ahead. Groups of 15 or more get a 15 percent discount.