RAILWAYS.
xvii
find it convenient to have as nearly as possible the exact fare ready
before taking tickets. In addition to the fare, a tax of 5 c. is payable
on each ticket, and the express fares are 10 per cent higher
than the ordinary. It is also very important to be at the station
early. The ticket-office at large stations is open 1 hr., at small
stations y2 hr. before the departure of the train. Holders of tickets
alone have the right of admission to the waiting-rooms. At the
end of the journey tickets are given up at the uscfta, except in
the case of the very large stations, where they are collected before
the passengers alight.
The traveller should, if possible, know the weight of his lug¬
gage approximately, in order to guard against imposition (1 kilo¬
gramme = about 2!/5 lbs.). No luggage is allowed free, except
small articles (which must not exceed 20 X 10 X 12 inches) taken
by the passenger into his carriage. Porters who convey luggage to
and from the carriages are sufficiently paid with a few sous, where
there is no fixed tariff. Those who intend to make only a short
stay at a place, especially when the town or village lies at a con¬
siderable distance from the railway, had better leave their heavier
luggage at the station till their return (dare in deposito, or de-
positare; 10 c. per day per cwt. or fraction of a cwt.).
The best collection of time-tables is the LIndicatore Ufficiale
delle Strade Ferrate', etc. (published monthly by the Fratelli Pozzo
at Turin; price 1 fr.), with which every traveller should be pro¬
vided. A smaller edition, confined to the railways of N. Italy (Fer-
rovie delV Alta Italia), is also issued.
Through Tickets to various parts of Italy are issued in London
(at the principal railway-stations; by Messrs. Cook & Son, Fleet
Street; etc.), in Paris, and at many of the principal towns in Ger¬
many and Switzerland. They are generally available for 30 days,
and each passenger is allowed 56 Engl. lbs. of luggage free. Luggage
may be registered either to the traveller's final destination or to any
one of the stations for which there are separate coupons in his
ticket-book. Travellers about to cross the frontier in either direction
are strongly recommended to superintend the custom-house exami¬
nation of luggage in person. — Tickets from Italy to Switzerland,
Germany, etc., must be partly paid for in gold, the amount being
stated in the Italian time-tables in the case of the most important
foreign towns. The traveller should provide himself with the
necessary amount of gold beforehand , as the money-changers and
ticket-clerks at the station charge a very high percentage on bank¬
notes. It is, however, usually possible to book to the frontier-
station only, and there take a fresh ticket. Information on this and
other points may be obtained in the larger towns from the Agenzie
di Citta.
Circular Tickets (viaggi circolari) to the principal towns in
Italy, the Italian lakes, etc., available for 20-60 days, may be
ttAFOEifRR. Tta.1v i. 6th Edit. b
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