Need advice on connection times between Rome airport and train north to Padova

The Leonardo Express train departs every 15 minutes and needs 32 min to reach Termini.

From the time the Leonardo Express arrives at Termini the walk to the fast trains is at least 5 minutes, so 10 minutes is the minimum layover. I prefer to have more so that I’m at the platform 10+ minutes is prior to departure. That gives me extra time to confirm the track departure number on the display (they occasionally change), and look for the proper train car.

Traversing customs is a walk through the “nothing to declare line”. What may take an unpredictable amount of time is the line at passport control, especially now with the introduction of the EES. I have no experience of that as I am a EU citizen, but in some European airports they experienced long lines, at least this summer when many arriving passengers hit that line simultaneously.

An even bigger unknown is whether the plane will depart and arrive on time. Plane delays are not uncommon.

Because of the above reasons I prefer to buy the train tickets at the FCO station whenever I arrive. Obviously I pay the full price as the discounted fares are gone by then.

If you are willing to take the risk of missing the train you book and losing your investment to save money on a pre-purchased discounted tickets, then I would give myself extra cushion of a few hours just in case.

Thank you sir for your very helpful and common sense response. You just brought my anxiety level down five notches.

I wouldn't try to predict which train you'll be taking to Padua/Padova when you can't control your landing and airport transit time if that's what you are trying to do. Just know that you'll being paying the full/base price for your ticket day of and keep the schedule in mind. You can check schedules and buy tickets on the Trenitalia app as well as .Italo or a ticket booths or kiosks in the station. Between the two companies there are at least two direct trains an hour so you'll have choices.

Once you know your schedule you'll know how much slack you have in your timing. There are a ton of food and shopping options in Roma Termini. If you have a few minutes you might consider a coffee and/or something "for the road" from station like a panini. Your train trip will probably be at least 4 hours and the food offerings in the bar car are pretty much a last resort kind of thing.
https://www.seat61.com/stations/rome-termini.htm

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Thank you so much Tod for your advice.

If you want peace of mind here is what you can do:

• Buy a ticket Rome to Padova. Select a late departure (eg 8 hours after your flight lands) and choose the "Base" ticket level.

Base tickets are changeable. So once you are at Termini just get out your phone and move your reservation to the next departure.
The cost will end up being the same as if you just bought the ticket on the spot, but this way you do have an insurance policy in case all trains are sold out on the day itself for some reason. That does not happen a lot, but occasionally it does...

In reference to the last comment, pre-purchasing a base ticket offers you no discount benefits and does not mitigate all risks of losing your investment.

The possibility of seats being sold out is ZERO. I’ve never experienced it my life, at most (very very rarely) they sold out the standard class (economy class) and had to buy the premium or business class ticket, or simply wait for the next train maybe 30 min later, which always had seats in all classes.

There is a train every hour going to Padua, and I am counting only the ones that require no change, because if you include the ones where you need to change at Bologna, there are at least 2 trains per hour.

For example I checked the trains to Padua leaving today, the rest of the day, and none are sold out, even those leaving within minutes from now. In the super unlikely event the standard class is sold out, you can simply buy the class above for more money (business class costs about 50% more, premium maybe 20% more). Or you can simply wait for the next train one hour later.

Having a base ticket offers you no safety if your plane is badly delayed and you arrive at the station more than 60 minutes after the train has departed. So for example even if you buy a base ticket for 8 hours after your scheduled landing time, and your flight is canceled and you arrive the next day, or even 9 hours late, your base ticket becomes invalid and cannot be refunded or changed.

A base ticket can be changed at any time and no cost BEFORE the train has departed.
AFTER the train has departed, BUT WITHIN ONE HOUR from the departure, a base ticket can be changed only once and ONLY IN PERSON AT THE STATION (not remotely online).
The base ticket is reimbursable ONLY BEFORE the train has departed, but always with a 20% penalty. The Base ticket is NOT reimbursable AFTER the train has departed, it can only be changed, as explained above, but only within one hour from the departure time.

So given the almost zero risk of seats being sold out, I think you should not buy a base ticket ahead of time, as it gives you no benefit and does not cover you in case of extreme trip delay or cancellation.

You either buy one Supereconomy ahead of time with the ~40% discount, but giving yourself some cushion of some hours to mitigate the risk. Or simply buy the base ticket once you are at the FCO train station with your luggage and ready to go. If you want you can use the Trenitalia app while you are at the baggage claim. From the baggage claim to the trains is less than 10 min walk.

On the note of ticket changing - I've only had to do this once in Milan when the train from Varenna was late and we missed our train out of Milan. The ticket change office in Milan was packed and felt like living a scene from a Fellini movie. Every walk of life represented as a large group of characters packed into the too small office waited from a limited range of service windows. Someone would take forever at the window, finally get their ticket settled and as everyone waited - the worker would flip the window sign to closed and everyone would collectively groan. Some people would jump the line saying I just have a quick question and then somehow parlay that into a full blown ticket session completely out of turn ignoring the open hostility of the crowd.

As interesting as it was it's not generally how you want to spend vacation time. I advocate for waiting until you're sure you will get that train, using the app going the lowest stress way possible.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

I forget who said "I used to think Fellini was a surrealist filmmaker, but the longer I live in Rome the more I think he was a documentary filmmaker."

On the note of ticket changing - I've only had to do this once in
Milan when the train from Varenna was late and we missed our train out
of Milan. The ticket change office in Milan was packed and felt like
living a scene from a Fellini movie.

Two remarks here:

1) If you have a "base" ticket you do not need to go to a ticket office to change it. You get your phone out and change it in the app.
2) If you have a ticket that is technically not changeable, but you need to change it because you missed a connection due to a delay you should not go to the ticket office. There is a service desk, called "Freccia Desk" at the head of the tracks in Milan, and most other stations. And they can change the ticket for you. And if you would miss the next train because there is wait to get your ticket change you just go to that next train, tell the train conductor you missed your previous one due to a delay and ask him where he has free seats...

So given the almost zero risk of seats being sold out, I think you
should not buy a base ticket ahead of time, as it gives you no benefit
and does not cover you in case of extreme trip delay or cancellation.

The reason I pointed out my strategy is that, while the risk of all tains being sold out is low, it is not zero. There are a handful of very busy travel days in Italy.

On that line (Roma-Venezia)?
Absolutely zero chance that all trains for the day would be sold out, zero!

At most the very next train, when the OP first arrives at the station has the standard class or even the next premium class booked and one would need to wait for the next train one hour later if unwilling to pay the extra money for a higher class of seats.

Booking a base ticket for 8 hours after scheduled arrival would not solve the problem. If the flight is timely and the same train is booked the OP would not be able to change that base ticket for the earlier departure on that same sold out train, he would need to change to the next available train with available seats or wait 8 hours to take the train originally booked.

I challenge anybody to go online on the Trenitalia website at any date or time, and find that all trains to Venice on that day are booked. It simply doesn’t happen.

On days that are particularly busy Trenitalia adds “treni straordinari” (extraordinary trains) on the route so that seats will be available, that is why it is so unlikely that seats are sold out, except for maybe a train or two during the day, but certainly not all the dozens of trains in the major lines.

Aaaaah, so much great information!
Thank you all for so many options and local knowledge. We're using the Trenitalia app to familiarize ourselves with it. And more importantly we're not worrying so much because of all the information you all have given us. Grazie

We're using the Trenitalia app to familiarize ourselves with it.

• If you haven't done so yet you may want to set up your account in the app. I think you can buy tickets and so on as a guest, but being logged in will save your tickets under your account. One catch is you can only enter your credit card into the app during an actual purchase, but you can check the box to save it for future purchases.
• At Roma Termini you can also buy the Leonardo tickets in the app. Wait until you are at the station in the airport, then instead of using the machines use the app. You will then use the QR code for the ticket to open the gate at Roma Termini to go to the train.
• Occasionally there are strikes in Italy, but Trenitalia still guarantees some trains will run. Check for planned strikes a week or two before your trip (strikes are announced in advance). Here is the guarantee list: https://www.trenitalia.com/content/dam/trenitalia/allegati/info/treni-garantiti/TABELLA_A_Treni_garantiti_DPLH.pdf Keep in mind that the private company Italo may not be part of the strike and still have trains on the same route

The amount of time it takes to get through EES is unpredicatable. On our recent arrival at FCO it took a little over 2 hours once we deplaned. So waiting to purchase your tickets is great advice.

The EES seems to be one of those “unknowns”. I’m hoping that by October we’ll be luckier.
Thanks for your info.