Trying to express a geography too literally in a typeface is dangerous; except in a display face, you can really only aim for a vague mood of a place.

That said, I personally see nothing at all Italian in Titillium.

hhp

Have you researched how they are printed? Tickets consist largely of type that is variable (destination, time, etc) and are probably printed on specialized equipment that may have limited font options. You may need to "italianize" the tickets via color and design rather than font choice (except for pre-printed portions of the ticket).

Studio di Lena would likely be a better source of 'Made in Italy' fonts.

Shame they used the name "Selene" - Simoncini has a great font by that name (originally called Armstrong) waiting to be revived.

hhp

Yeah, I know, and I wrote to Trenitalia but no answer about print system...
Thanks all for the suggestions of fonts, anyone know any font used in train tickets? (or airplanes tickets..). The first value I need for this project is that the font must be engineered for cramped conditions (something like these? http://www.typography.com/collections/cartography/)

Otto, it looks like you're after a monospaced fonts:

http://www.fontshop.com/fontlist/genres/monospaced/

That said, Trenitalia's corporate typeface, as you will know, is Futura:

http://sdz.aiap.it/topografie/9222

http://blog.giofugatype.com/?p=367

Yes, but in the tickets they don't use Futura, but a strange monospaced font..

> in the tickets [they use] a strange monospaced font.

Is it possible that they print them using a mechanical system? Metal characters that physically transfer ink to the ticket?

Otto, these tickets are a fairly common format, and I've seen them used in other countries (Luxembourg, Germany, Belgium, etc.). The only differential is the logo of the operator in the top-left. The printers are thermal, so its black print only. If you want to find out more, I suggest you ask nicely at the train station if they can tell you the name and model of the printer, and who makes it, you should be able to get more information on their capabilities (or lack of).

As a lot of rail operators are moving to e-tickets, you might want to consider a redesign for those instead as you would (potentially) have more flexibility (color, format, etc.).

thanks David!