Forum member Dario has been so helpful in advising people on the ways and means of Italian trains, and today his information has been particularly useful to us. So I want to give him a big “thank you”.
In particular, the advice that Frecce trains are not affected by strikes was helpful today. We arrived at Bolzano Stazione for our train to Venice to see notices about a public transport strike in Alto Adige today, 29 September, and everyone in our group was concerned. But I had booked a Frecciarossa train for our family of eight, so I assured them that we need not worry at all. Our train left on time and we are now on our way to Venezia Santa Lucia.
The other helpful bit of advice was on the tickets for Frecce trains. Dario said that, unlike Regionale trains, all one needs is the PNR code. I had already downloaded and circulated all the tickets (8 for each train, 7 trains in all) and was frustrated with managing them all. The conductor came by just now to check our tickets, and as soon as I showed him mine, he looked around at the family seated near me and said “6 of you?” I nodded and he did not need to see the others’ tickets. (Two family members are in another coach with a different ticket PNR so will have to show that separately).
Next time I will not bother with downloading all the Frecce tickets individually.