Italian train platform and validation

It Italy and much of Europe, standard practice is to check the board of upcoming train departures when you arrive in the station, similar to at an airport. When making a connection, the conductor onboard the previous train can sometimes tell you. See also https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/getting-on-the-right-train.

Coming from Switzerland, your connection in Milano Centrale station should be pretty easy and well-signed. It's a dead-end station where all trains come into one big room, so you can move between the tracks without needing any tunnel or stairs to connect them.

If you've just got used to SBB, Italian railways may be a bit different. SBB (and DB in Germany) publish platform numbers in the timetables, up to a year in advance. Sometimes trains change platforms at short notice, but it is rare.
In most of the rest of Europe, including Italy, they don't publish platform information in advance. It only appears on the departure boards about 15-20 minutes before departure. That is why you will see lots of people waiting under the departure board, waiting for the platform numbers to be posted.

If Italian your tickets already have a date, time, train number and seat numbers on them, they are only valid on that train and do not need "validating". This is for long distance and high speed trains. For local trains (Regionalle), tickets are valid on any train (like in Switzerland), but, unlike Switzerland, you have to time-stamp the tickets (the "validating") to stop you using them twice. Look for a little machine with a slot to put your ticket into.

You only validate (time stamp) Regionale tickets purchased at a machine or ticket window. Any ticket purchased on the internet is prevalidated if a Regionale ticket and other tickets are specific to a date, time, train and seat number. Just like a US airport, train platforms change and sometimes will be change with only a few minutes notice. If you are waiting on a platform, hear an announcement that you don't understand, and people around you start walking away, assume a change has been announced so go check the board. All trains have a number so know that number when looking on the announcement board.

Darioalb has shared this link on a few posts (for checking Italian trains), but I've never tried it nor needed it: www.viaggiatreno.it.

One thing I wish someone had told me about validating train tickets - the little machines are at the start of the tracks in the stations I've been in. So, for me, the first few times I walked down the length of the train, looking for the perfect car for myself, only to realize I couldn't find the validating machine because it was back at the start of the track and I had to backtrack with all my luggage...it was never super far but it always panicked me a little because, at least the first few times, I just had a few minutes to spare and was looking around madly for the little machine.

My domo-venice and venice-florence tickets have seat numbers as well as time so I guess that does not need anything. Florence - Pisa and Pisa- LA spezia are regionale trains and I only have order number. La-spezia - Pisa and pisa-rome are also regionals but I got email later with the ticket numbers for all of us. All these tickets are from internet so I only have printout of these. How do I validate them? Will the validation machines accept my printouts.

If you printed tickets for regionale trains that you bought online, they should have a date, time and train number. If so, you do not validate them as they are only valid for that specific train. Read the fine print. I did this once and I think it was pretty clear (recollection is faint).

You might download an app such as Train Timetable Italy. Useful for checking on time status and occasionally for expected boarding and arrival platforms.

I wish all train systems were as well organized as SBB.

Basically all train tickets need a date and time on them. If yours does not have both, stick it in the little box (used to be yellow, now grey/green) found on nearly every platform. This will stamp the time/date on your ticket.

mpankaj Train tickets bought online at www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en never need to be validated.

If you bought at italiarail.com you'd better check: some of the Regionale trains tickets sold by italiarail.com must be picked up at automatic machines entering a code they send via email.

It is physically impossible to validate any ticket purchased on line and printed on a sheet of paper. It will not fit into the tiny slot. So IF you purchased on-line don't worry about. This is real simply so try not to make it complicated. As stated before, only Regtionale train tickets purchased at a machine or from a ticket window needs to be validated. It will be on stiff (light cardboard) paper about an inch or so wide and a couple inches long. You stick the blank end into the validation machine, and it hits with a date and time stamp making it a valid ticket. The validation machines are small attach to back of station, posts, etc near the head of the tracks. Look around and you will see locals doing it. Follow suit.

They have date, time and train no but some of them were from Italiarail and as I mentioned earlier some do not have ticket number.

OP, I pre-purchased regional tickets as well. If you read the small print at the bottom of the ticket it says :

2.2. pre-validated and allow the journey to begin by 4 hours and 0 minutes from the date/hour shown on this receipt.

1. The travel document must be shown (on paper or electronic equipment able to permit the correct visualization of the file in pdf.) jointly with a valid identity document upon every request of the Inspectors.

So just keep your passport with your printed out ticket and you're good to go! :)

There is an app called Trenitalia which you can download on your iPhone and which states platform no, time of arrival and delays.
If asked an address, give them any Italian address you might have ( hotel, friend, family).