Booking train tickets for January

Schedule should be complete by about Dec 13 although some probably sooner

If tickets not available nobody has access to them so no worries about discounted tickets being sold out

Book on Trenitalia

No need to wait for Trenitalia’s tix to go on sale—You can buy high-speed Italotreno tickets NOW up through January. Be sure you have the high-speed train routes to input ( ie Roma to Firenze, Firenze to Milano) which are the routes you’ll save money on by buying in advance.

You can buy the Regionale tix ( ie Firenze to Lucca) anytime as there are no savings by buying the Regionale tix in advance.

www.Italotreno.com/en

Since regional train tickets are always the same price, you may look if you book the fast train portion now and book the regional connections nlater when they become available. In the example you gave, Verona to Lucca involves a Frecciarosso train from Verona Porta Nuova to Firenze S.M. Novella, then a regional train to Lucca. You can buy the Verona-Florence train now at a discount Super Economy ticket. Buy the regional connection later, it is always the same price.

Thanks for the replies.

Kenko, you suggested that I could buy Verona-Firenze now and then regional later. That's an idea - hopefully there would not be a long connecting time (Sunday).
Do you know where I would have to change trains going from Lucca to Napoli?

Thanks

Hi Viajero, , Lucca to Firenze Santa Maria Novella is a Regionale train— so no need to book in advance.
Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Napoli Centrale ( 3-hour) high-speed Italotreno train tix is now on sale,

You can view schedules and fares (and buy tickets) at www.TheTrainline.com and www.Omio.com for both trenitalia and Italotreno high-speed trains.

What Kenko says is just not true. Neither Trainline or Omio have any special access to tickets.

They can't and aren't selling regional train tickets beyond December 12th.

However like Trenitalia themselves are (now) they are selling fast train tickets until the end of March.

In other words Trenitalia know the fast train timetables now, but not the Regional ones.

As the Regional tickets don't change in price the trick on Verona to Lucca or any other route where you change from fast to regional train is to buy the fast train part of the journey now, then the Regional part later or even on the day.

Isn31c, I think you misread my post. What I wrote is that Trenitalia and Italotreno high-speed train tix for January are on sale now through The Trainline and Omio platforms. Italotreno is also selling its high-speed train tix on its website.
Trenitalia sells Regionale tickets.
Trenitalia does contract with both The Trainline and Omio to sell its train tix—as does Italotreno. So they do have special access to sell Trenitalia’s high-speed train tickets. They have access to Trenitalia’s computerized ticketing systems which enables them to sell Trenitalia’s high-speed trains tickets. And you’ll find that Trenitalia High-Speed train tix are for sale on both of those platforms for dates beyond December 13..

I still can't find high speed train tickets for some dates, like Napoli-Roma on 24 January. They don't seem to go that far. I will probably buy the fast train tickets portions where I can get them and hope for the best regional connections. Might be tricky on a Sunday.

I see train times for 24 January (Napoli-Roma) but it states "not available".

Trainline and iralotreno have tix through January 22. January 24 should be available shortly.

January is ages away. Buying train tickets so far in advance is not really something the railways expect you to want to do. So you encounter all kinds of weird things when you try.
I would expect that by end of October or so all schedules should be on line, and tickets should be available till about the summer.

Thanks for advice. I see that there are tickets from Verona to Firenze on the January date I want. Wouldn't it be wise to book the fast train tickets now and then pay cash for the connecting regional train from from Firenze to Lucca on day of departure? Presumably there will be adequate regional connections.

Yes, go ahead and buy the high-speed train tix once you’ve nailed down your itinerary. I always buy them as soon as I can and just buy the Regionale tickets at the train stations just before the journey. The Regionale trains can not sell out. They may have standing room only but you can always catch a train.

BTW, tix for Napoli to Roma on January 24 are now on sale.

I don't see them for sale yet from either Trenitalia or Italo on Jan 24. From Amalfi Coast, you will most likely want to travel from Salerno.

Kenko, I do not see Napoli-Roma for sale on Trenitalia for 24 January, only up to 22 January.

One other question: I have heard that in case of a strike, trains prior to 9 AM will operate. Is this true?