Bicycles and public transport in Apulia

bike on train: In Apulia is free!

In Apulia and Basilicata (Matera) the bicycle carriage supplement on regional trains is free: the ticket inspector on board will give you a free ticket when you are controlled and you don’t have to buy the supplement before getting on board, you just need a normal ticket for you as a passenger.

Tre railway companies in Apulia are Trenitalia, FAL Ferrovie Appulo Lucane (Bari-Matera), Ferrotramviaria (internal line Barletta – Bari and Aeroporto di Bari-Palese) and Ferrovie del Gargano.

Most of the regional trains have a designated coach (from 3 to 12 bicycle racks), but before buying the ticket it is recommended to check on the schedules if the selected train offers this possibility. Especially some of the former Ferrovie del Sud Est e.g. in Salento (now part of the Trenitalia network) do not allow bike transport.

For information about  national trains, visit the website by Trenitalia.

bike on bus: a possible alternative

In Italy transporting a bicycle on board of a national train can be difficult, even if something is changing but … slowly.

Recently, bus lines are starting to offer the bicycle carriage services: Flixbus, Marino, etc., it is worth to check out the different transport conditions of each company.

The local buses can be an alternative on those stretches where there is no train connection. Anche se non esplicitamente consentito, gli autobus hanno una stiva bagagli che solitamente è vuota perché non utilizzata dai pendolari: consigliamo di presentarsi alla prima fermata con la propria bicicletta smontata e chiedere il permesso al conducente (che difficilmente vi dirà di no) così come di farvi indicare qual è la fermata più comoda per lui per farvi scendere senza intralciare la circolazione.

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