I am aware of the rules that say tickets are not valid until they have been convalidated at one of the machines on station platforms. I am also aware that failure to do this can result in hefty fine. However, recently I and my wife travelled from Assisi to Fiumicino Aeroporto, changing at Roma Tiburtina. The TVM at Assisi issued two separate tickets each, which I would have stamped together at Assisi had I not thought to check, and discovered that the ticket from Tiburtina to Fiuimicino was only valid for 90 minutes from the time of validation, so it would have expired before we got to Rome. No problem, I thought, just stamp it at one of the machines which they always have at the bottom of the stairs – from my experience of other Italian stations - in the connecting subway at Tiburtina. The first train was running slightly late, and arrived with minutes to spare before the connection for the airport. It wouldn't have been a disaster if we had missed it, because the next was due in 20 minutes, but we thought we would catch it if we could. But no validation machines were to be found in the obvious place at the platform entrances; we looked around on the platform but didn't see any there either.
So we boarded the train with 'invalid' tickets. Eventually the conductor came along to check, and I explained the situation in my best (far from perfect) Italian. Fortunately he was courteous and reasonable, and accepted my explanation while saying that there were machines on the platform at Tiburtina (which we failed to see). He endorsed our tickets with a signature and we didn't have to pay a fine.
So, no problem. But several questions: [1] Why not issue a through ticket for the whole journey Assisi - Fiumicino? [2] Why does a busy interchange station like Tiburtina not have easily visible machines in the obvious places? [3] How do passengers with little fluency in Italian, who might not be familiar with the regulations, fare when confronted by a 'jobsworth' inspector unlike the one we encountered? [4] What is the advantage of the Italian (and French) system of convalidating over the British one of simply issuing dated tickets?
So we boarded the train with 'invalid' tickets. Eventually the conductor came along to check, and I explained the situation in my best (far from perfect) Italian. Fortunately he was courteous and reasonable, and accepted my explanation while saying that there were machines on the platform at Tiburtina (which we failed to see). He endorsed our tickets with a signature and we didn't have to pay a fine.
So, no problem. But several questions: [1] Why not issue a through ticket for the whole journey Assisi - Fiumicino? [2] Why does a busy interchange station like Tiburtina not have easily visible machines in the obvious places? [3] How do passengers with little fluency in Italian, who might not be familiar with the regulations, fare when confronted by a 'jobsworth' inspector unlike the one we encountered? [4] What is the advantage of the Italian (and French) system of convalidating over the British one of simply issuing dated tickets?
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