Book Train on Trenord or Trenitalia APP (Milano Centrale to Verenna?)

Why would you need to book a train trip on a Regional train like the Milano-Varenna (or any train operated by Trenord)?
There is no benefit in booking a Regional train, which is like a commuter train or a subway train in America. There are no discounts available for early purchases, and seats cannot be reserved and do not sell out (just like on the NYC subway). If you get on board and all seats are taken (almost next to impossible on most trains to Varenna), you simply stand up until a seat becomes available.
Just buy the ticket at the station when you decide to go, even 5 min before boarding.

I did read all of that info but it is a Holiday so I thought it might be a good idea to book in advance.

In addition, I wanted to try out my Trenitalia APP so I know it is working correctly. Which my test run proved otherwise.
Thank you…I am certain that is so much I should let go of.

Apps can be finicky. You might try deleting it, restart your phone then download again.

Curious as to which holiday?
Holiday or not still no reason to purchase in advance. There are lots of kiosks and windows at Milano Centrale

Kiosks and ticket offices at the station are all open and operating every day, including holidays, and seats cannot be reserved no matter how holy that day is or how early you buy the ticket, they are on a first come first served basis also on holidays. You can do also without an app.

Last November during my learning curve I booked train tickets using the Trenitalia and Trenord apps. I used one for the Malpensa Express and the other for a regional train from Milan to Lecco which is the same train you may be using to get to Varenna if traveling via Milan’s Central Station. It was great having my tickets readily available electronically. Additionally, I was glad to be able to do so. It isn’t necessary to book ahead but it so convenient simply using the app rather than waiting in line.

I appreciate the responses from both the “learning curve” & the “relaxed”.

Preparing for the unknown by the Italy inexperienced with all the conflicting info available is time consuming & stressful.
It has been 15 yrs since I was last in Europe. I think that after this trip I will want to go for 90days & relax.
I think I land soundly in the “tickets” in hand category. No lines for me.

I do not like standing in line for tickets as well. Which is why I just use the Trenitalia App for buying tickets. What I have however found out is that, contrary to what is the norm, you do not log in with your email address in the app. That was an issue I kept hitting as well. You have a user id that is different from your email.

When you crate an account you have to enter your email, and your personal details, and then it creates is username for you. It is that username, and the password you entered that you need to use to login, not your email address.
Your username will be in the "registration confirmation" email you got.

In my case my username was just firstname.surname.

That said, for regional trains you can safely buy the tickets, using the app, just before travel. There is no need to "secure" tickets as buying tickets in advance does not make a difference.

Unfortunately, we had already received our assigned usernames & logged in using it & our password only to find that when you are purchasing tickets & must enter an email address it won’t accept it. This happened on both my & my husbands APP. I am not overly concerned about purchasing the Milan-Varenna tickets but I am concerned that the APP won’t work at all once we are there. I did a google query & found that even Italian locals complain about the quirky APP.

Well, you can still just get a ticket from the ticket machine. At smaller stations that is usually not an issue. And you can do it earlier if you have some spare time. You will be travelling to Varenna as well, I assume...

We are travelling from Milan to Bolzano on Sept 29. Do we need to buy those train tickets in advance?

I fully intend to book our tickets from Varenna to Tirano using the Trenord app. I know I can line up and buy at the station, but why if I have an app. Much easier to get them while drinking my breakfast coffee and hop straight on the train.

As we are in Australia, I can't get the Trenitalia app at all. Fortunately I only need to get Trenord tickets so it isn't a problem.

Can anyone confirm that if I pick a ticket for say 10am, I actually have six hours to use that ticket?

I'm from Australia and I can get the app - not sure why you can't

I love the comment regarding being "Italy inexperienced." I have traveled throughout most of Europe and haven't really found any of them to be very stressful ... except Italy. Something about the dueling train operators, the inaccessability of coastal towns except by rigorous climb, the rumors of high pickpocket populations. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to our month in Italy with great anticipation!

Buy tickets when you are there!!! Very easy

I am happy to say that I finally conquered the Trenitalia APP.
Both my husband & I downloaded the APP & were assigned our "username" by Trenitalia.
Every time we tried to purchase tickets it refused to accept email address.
I added myself & my husband to the "Traveling Companions" with all pertinent info.
These are saved for future use.
Then I chose each one of us as the persons assigned to each ticket.
Walla....victory!

The other issue I encountered is that I thought I could use Apple Pay but I could only select credit card as form of payment.
Hope this helps anyone else who has encountered the same problem.

Stuchfam, I have never been able to access the Trenitalia app on my iPhone. I can get Trenord, Trenit and Italo, but not Trenitalia. If you google it lots of people say the same. Are you on Android or iPhone.

As I said, it isn't an issue as we are only in Italy this trip for a few days and all trains will be in the Lombardy region, so I can just use Trenord. It seems easier to use than Trenitalia anyway.

DebH - luckily android