Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink from Rome Ciampino Airport to Roma Termini by Bus and Train

While Rome Ciampino Airport does not have a direct airport rail link train, Trenitalia offers the Ciampino Airlink which is a bus and train combination to get passengers to Roma Termini via Ciampino Railway Station. While the cheapest train (metro) option would be with ATAC via local buses and metro, I wanted a Trenitalia commuter train to arrive at Roma Termini by train properly.

Rome Ciampino Airport

I arrived at Rome Ciampino Airport by Ryanair FR3072 from London Stansted. Rome Ciampino Airport is small and compact, which makes it almost impossible to get lost in.

The Ciampino Airlink bus departs from Bus Stop 7 outside the terminal building of Rome Ciampino Airport.

This is also the same bus stop for the ATAC Roma public buses.

Bus departure information for the Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink is displayed on the screen at Bus Stop 7.

The 520 arrived first, which was bound for Cinecittà Metro Station.

Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink Ticket

My Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink ticket from Rome Ciampino Airport to Roma Termini, made up of 2 portions. The fare for the Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink costs €2.70, which is split as €1.20 for the bus and €1.50 for the train. I had pre-purchased my ticket online on the Trenitalia website since I knew my arrival and departure flight times, but Trenitalia ticket machines are also available inside the terminal.

Alas, I had missed my initial booked Ciampino Airlink Autobus CI146 with my delayed Ryanair FR3072 flight, but tickets are “auto-validated” based on my booked time, and thereafter valid for 4 hours on the same route.

Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink Autobus CI148

My Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink bus arrived at Bus Stop 7 at 1.03pm – 3 minutes delayed. This Trenitalia bus bears the train number of CI148, operated by ATRAL for Trenitalia.

Tickets are checked by the bus driver at boarding – don’t board the Ciampino Airlink bus ATAC-style to wait for revenue inspectors.

There is also a validator on board which I did not need to use, but check with the driver if this is a Trenitalia ticket validator or the ATRAL one which is not in use.

The interior of the Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink bus, which is a familiar Citaro with not so familiar seats.

With not much passengers, I took the bay of 4 seats for more legroom, just like how I do on Citaros in Singapore.

Seats are positioned a little bit awkwardly in levels in exact accordance with the bus floor.

Luggage can be kept at the wheelchair or standing area in the middle of the bus.

My Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink Autobus CI148 departed from Rome Ciampino Airport at 1.05pm – 5 minutes delayed.

The Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink bus route skirts around the perimeter of Rome Ciampino Airport to get to Ciampino.

Heading through Ciampino city to get to Ciampino Railway Station.

Ciampino Railway Station

My Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink Autobus CI148 arrived at Ciampino Railway Station at 1.11pm – 1 minute early. That was a speedy bus transfer.

The timetable of Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink buses are displayed at the dedicated Ciampino Airlink bus stop outside Ciampino Railway Station.

The entrance to Ciampino Railway Station is just a few steps away from the bus stop.

Heading in to Ciampino Railway Station.

I was stunned to see that I have a 30-minute wait ahead of me at Ciampino Railway Station. I thought that Ciampino, being a major railway junction, would have multiple train lines converging here to head to Roma Termini. Apparently they bunch up on schedule.

The next train to Roma Termini, the Regionale 20128, would be departing from Platform 1, just ahead.

Heading into Platform 1.

There’s not much train movements to spot for this half-an-hour wait.

The FL4 (Lazio regional railways) has 3 branch lines which converge at Ciampino with a shared sector between Ciampino and Roma Termini.

And here comes my Trenitalia Regionale 20128 after half an hour of waiting at Ciampino Railway Station.

Boarding my Trenitalia Regionale 20128 at Ciampino Railway Station operated by a Vivalto push-pull train with a FS Class E.464 electric locomotive and Vivalto coaches.

The train was pretty crowded as it originated from Velletri almost 50 minutes ago. I managed to get an aisle seat of the lower deck for the 16-minute train ride to Roma Termini.

No revenue inspections were conducted on my train.

Roma Termini Railway Station

My Trenitalia Regionale 20128 arrived at Roma Termini Railway Station at 2.00pm – 1 minute delayed.

Hello Rome, once again.

My Trenitalia Regionale 20128 at Roma Termini Platform 18.

Platform 18 spells bad news as it is just a short end-on platform at the edge of the station, and there is now a 480 meter walk down past the entire Platform 17 to get to the main terminal building.

Throwback to my top view from my Ryanair FR3072 flight to see how big Roma Termini is.

Walking down half a kilometer to the main station exit gates.

Finally heading out of the exit door after what seemed like an eternity with bags.

The station concourse of Roma Termini Railway Station.

The façade of Roma Termini Railway Station.

Conclusion

Excluding the first waiting time, my Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink got me from Rome Ciampino Airport to Roma Termini by bus and train combination in 1 hour. If including the initial waiting time and then the walk out of Roma Termini from Platform 18, I would add probably another 30 minutes there.

The Trenitalia Ciampino Airlink is surprisingly not a fast way from Rome Ciampino Airport to Roma Termini, thanks to the long 30-minute wait at Ciampino between the bus and train, which was longer than the total journey times combined it there was a good connection.

I only enjoyed my ride because it was a train. If I weren’t a railway fan, I’ll probably skip this mode of airport transfer.

However, this long connection seems to only affect some journeys in the Rome Ciampino Airport to Roma Termini direction, and the Roma Termini to Rome Ciampino Airport journeys seem to have good connections between the train and bus, as experienced in my return trip.