For many years, Pisa International Airport (Galileo Galilei) enjoyed something that is now surprisingly rare in Italy: a direct mainline railway station. Pisa Aeroporto station sat on the conventional rail corridor and, at various times, even hosted direct trains to Florence, allowing passengers to step off a flight and continue deeper into Tuscany without changing trains.
However, that era came to an end in December 2013, when the mainline station officially closed. The reason was not a lack of demand, but rather a strategic shift. Italian rail planners opted to separate airport access from the national rail network and replace it with a dedicated, high-frequency people mover.
Enter the PisaMover đźšť (not a pizza delivery service)
In March 2017, the PisaMover entered service. Despite sounding like a scooter delivering pepperoni, it is in fact a fully automated, driverless people mover running on a dedicated guideway along broadly the same corridor as the former railway station.
The journey takes around 5 minutes and runs every few minutes throughout the day. Importantly, Pisa Centrale remains one of Tuscany’s key rail hubs, with fast and frequent trains to Florence, Lucca, Livorno, Cinque Terre, Genoa, Rome, and beyond. In that sense, the PisaMover preserves the airport’s excellent rail connectivity — just with an enforced transfer.
Cost, convenience, and controversy đź’¶
The most controversial aspect is the price. A one-way PisaMover ticket costs €6.50 (price subject to change), which makes it one of the most expensive airport people movers in Europe on a per-kilometre basis. The line is just 1.445 km long, a distance that is perfectly walkable in around 20 minutes.
For solo travellers or couples with luggage, the cost is often accepted as a convenience fee. However, for groups — particularly four people or more — the PisaMover can be more expensive than a taxi, especially when heading directly into the city centre.
A downgrade or a modernisation?
Whether the change represents progress depends on perspective. Pisa lost a true airport mainline station, but gained a reliable, frequent, and easy-to-understand link that works well for the majority of passengers.
What is clear is that Pisa remains one of Italy’s best airports for onward travel by rail — even if today, that journey begins on a short, automated train rather than a regional service.
And no, sadly, it still doesn’t deliver pizza 🍕.