Railway and Trenino Verde
The railway is of very little importance in Sardinia.
The route network is thin – only a few lines of the formerly state-owned FS (Ferrovie dello Stato) cross the island and provide a north-south connection. Trains operated by the subsidiary Trenitalia run on these lines.
An express train (Espresso) runs only once a day. It takes 4 hours each for the Porto Torres – Cagliari and Olbia – Cagliari routes.
For all other trains, such a journey can take up to 6 hours.
In addition, there are some narrow-gauge lines operated by the company FdS (Ferrovie della Sardegna), which has belonged to the Sardinian transport company ARST since 2008.
All lines run exclusively through the interior of the country, with the narrow-gauge lines in particular passing through the most beautiful landscapes.
Regularly, however, the trains only run on the Macomer-Nuoro, Alghero-Sassari, Sassari-Sorso and Cagliari-Mandas-Isili routes.
Compared to intercity buses, the FdS has not been competitive in passenger transport for a long time.
In the meantime, however, the tourist potential of these routes has been discovered, and special tourist trains are operated on some particularly beautiful routes.
These Trenini Verde (“little green trains”) only operate during the season (mid-June – mid-September).
Golfo Aranci, railway station
The train might be interesting for those who want to explore Sardinia by bike. Bicycles can be taken on almost all of the trains, so that even longer distances can be covered without any problems.
The train is also well suited for trnsporting you for hiking in the mountainous regions of Sardinia.
The prices for train tickets are very reasonable, only the “Trenino Verde” is slightly more expensive.
When planning train journeys, it should be taken into account that the stations are sometimes far away from the actual towns, especially with the FdS.
Trenino Verde
Narrow-gauge railway “Trenino Verde”
During the tourist season, these trains run on the most scenic narrow-gauge lines that have already been closed to regular traffic.
The Trenino Verde serves the routes Bosa-Macomer, Tempio-Palau, Mandas-Laconi, Mandas-Seui and Arbatax-Gairo in summer.
The section between Gairo and Seui has been closed for several years due to bridge damage. Trains from Arbatax turn around in Gairo.
A page about the Arbatax-Sadali route can be found here.
More information about routes and timetables can be found on the Trenino Verde homepage.
When the narrow-gauge tracks were laid, the contractors were paid per kilometre being laid. As a result, the lines are extremely winding and correspondingly long.
The trains travel relatively slowly so that you can enjoy the landscape in calmly.
In some cases, you will travel through areas that you would not be able to reach by car.
The trains of the Trenini Verde consist of historic wagons pulled either by railcars or diesel locomotives from the 1950s, or sometimes by steam locomotives (if it is possible concerning the wildfire risk).
Tickets for these trains are available either at the stations at the starting point or you can book such a tour at the sales booths for “Escursioni”, which can be found in many holiday resorts during the season. This usually includes the journey by bus and one or two meals of Sardinian specialities.
If you plan to get on along the way, a (telephone) reservation is required. Information on this is best obtained from the tourist offices in the larger towns.