Matera: no national railway, so you arrive via Bari

Matera is not connected to Italy's national rail network, so the usual way in is through Bari: fly into Bari Karol Wojtyla airport, then take the narrow-gauge Ferrovie Appulo Lucane line from Bari Centrale, which on Sundays and holidays runs as a bus.

Fly to Bari

Bari Karol Wojtyla airport, IATA code BRI, handled 7,977,881¹ passengers in 2025, up 9.7% on 2024, the tenth busiest airport in Italy. It is run by Aeroporti di Puglia.

From the airport you need to reach Bari Centrale first, and that link is covered at getting to Bari. A direct shuttle from the airport to Matera isn't in the data verified for this page.

The FAL train on weekdays

The weekday timetable of the Ferrovie Appulo Lucane in force from August 31, 2026 has a first departure from Bari Centrale at 4:14 am and a last one at 10:10 pm. Most trains for Matera need a change at Altamura, which is roughly 72 minutes out of Bari.

The timetable is printed in two blocks, Bari to Altamura and Altamura to Matera, so the total journey can't be read off it with certainty and this page doesn't state one. Matera has five stations on the line: Venusio, Serra Rifusa, Villa Longo, Matera Centrale and Matera Sud.

Fares are a gap. The FAL tariff sheet in force from January 1, 2026 gives the tariff distance, 70 km from Bari Centrale to Matera, but not the price, so buy at the station.

The regional service contract for 2024 to 2033 sets a target of 1 hour 25 minutes for a direct Bari to Matera train, against 1 hour 42 before. Treat that as a target in a contract, not as today's timetable.

Sundays and holidays: the bus

On Sundays and public holidays FAL replaces every Bari to Matera train with a bus, and rail tickets are valid on board. The bus leaves from the terminal in via Capruzzi, in front of Bari's mainline FS station, not from the FAL station.

With the timetable of August 3, 2026 there are eight arrivals at Matera Centrale, from 9:48 am to 11:03 pm, and the ride takes about 1 hour 45 minutes. Only the terminus times are firm: FAL warns that intermediate and arrival times depend on traffic.

The service contract also plans Sunday rail from September 2026, so check which of the two applies on the Sunday you travel.

Summer works come back every year

In 2026 trains between Bari and Gravina stopped from June 22 to August 30 for engineering work, with replacement buses between Bari Centrale and Grumo Appula leaving 15 minutes before the train time, and from July 27 to August 30 seven runs were cut for the summer. Read FAL's service notices before any trip in the warm months.

The mainline that is coming

A new line from Ferrandina to Matera La Martella, 20 km of single electrified track costing €525² million and partly funded by the PNRR, has been under construction since 2023. Activation is expected in 2028.

More at Matera and the capital off the national rail network. The Sassi traffic rules for drivers are at Matera ZTL, and the airport itself is at Bari airport.

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