Although generally the newest Italian train schedules and prices are not posted till June,
I have already found some pretty good deals on both ItaloTreno and Trenitalia for this coming September and October if anyone is looking.
I don't think everything is in place yet, but certainly some of the Freccia trains are there with decent prices.
Things are a bit clearer now. Replacement bus schedules are now showing for the Arona-Stresa section of the Milan-Domodossola rail leg, and the Colico-Tirano section of the Milan-Tirano rail line. Regional schedules for Venice-Trieste are now up, much to the relief of cruise passengers.
Basically Trenitalia only publishes schedules when they are sure the train will run. So you do not get those confusing schedule change messages you so often get for DB when you book far in advance. The disadvantage is that when booking far in advance on Trenitalia you may not see all the trains.
My advice is always: Assume schedules do not change much, so six months from now trains will be like now. So do a look up for a date this week first to get an idea to what is available, and then you can assume that this will be available six months from now. If you do not see it yet as bookable, than this is just because it is...
Regional schedules for Venice-Trieste are now up, much to the relief
of cruise passengers.
Why? I don't think many people were assuming that the Venice - Trieste line would suddenly stop operating.
Why? I don't think many people were assuming that the Venice - Trieste line would suddenly stop operating.
Quite a few panicked posts here. "How to I get from Trieste, where my cruise docks, to Venice? There are no trains!"
Another just PM'd me. Going from Chur to Tirano to Milan to Florence. Booked seat reservations on the morning Bernina Express and planned on taking the 13.08 train to Milan from Tirano, so booked a nonrefundable ticket on Italo with what seemed like plenty of slack time. When the schedule finally came up this week, the 13:08 had been cancelled, and the next departure on the replacement bus almost 2 hours later, put him in Milano Centrale at the exact same time as his Florence train was departing. Fortunately, it is far enough in the future he can change his Italo ticket for a minimal fee.