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No direct train Tirano to Milan in June

Posted by on

Hi all,

There was a question about this posted earlier, but I have some specific questions, as well.

In June, we'll be taking the Bernina Express to Tirano, then going from there to Milan. From what I can tell, there will not be a direct train during that time, due to work on the tracks in preparation for the 2026 Olympics. Looks like it will be a bus to Colico, then a train to Milan probably. Looking at different websites (Trenord, TrenItalia, SBB) times and schedules are all over the place at the moment, but best case it seems that the bus to train will be about the same length of time as the direct train, which is great. If that best case scenario happens, I have 2 questions:

  1. There will be 10 minutes in Colico to change from bus to train. Will this be enough time? We'll have my 80 year old mother with us, and rushing is not really an option, so having plenty of time is important. If I need to, I will just book the tickets separately and get the bus ticket, then a later train ticket from Colico to Milano Centrale to give us more time (and time to sit by Lake Como!), but getting to Milan earlier after a long day of travel would be nice.
  2. Is it necessary/advisable to purchase tickets ahead of time, especially for the train? Ideally, I'd like to make sure we make it on the train (per the above question), and would prefer to purchase our tickets once we know we made it on, but I also don't want to get stuck without a seat.

Thanks in advance -- I know this might all be difficult to predict at this point, but I'd just like to get some idea of what our options would be!

Thanks,

Karen

Posted by
16765 posts

I would think that since everyone on that bus is likely transferring to the train, they would wait for people who are moving toward it to get safely aboard. Of course I do not know for sure, but it makes sense to me. You can wave to the staff person on the platform to make sure they see you, or one of you can run ahead to alert them while the other escorts Mom.

I would suggest buying that ticket ahead of time, in case seats on the bus are limited.

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you, Lola -- that all makes a lot of sense. I'm not at all familiar with Colico, so I'm hoping it won't be too tricky to get from the bus to the train with our luggage. Appreciate your insights!
Take care,
Karen

Posted by
16765 posts

If you are really concerned, and cannot get any definitive information on whether the train waits for passengers who are a bit slower, there is another option—-booking a private transfer from Tirano to Colico. We did that last September when we faced a “bus link” in our journey from Milan to Desenzano on Lago di Garda. There were 8 of us traveling (all family) and the bus link was between Brescia and Desenzano. Past Desenzano the train continued to Verona, and I expected there would be lots of people on it (which there were—-people standing in the aisles because all the seats were full). We were transfering from train to bus, not bus to train as you will be, and I could see how they could possibly provide enough buses to accommodate everyone on that train. So I booked a private driver to take us the 26 miles or so from Brescia to our hotel in Desenzano. The driver met us at the Brescia train station.

Tirano to Colico is around 45 miles, taking an hour to drive. There seem to be a number of private car/taxi services around Lake Como—-at least I saw lots of adds for private drivers to the Milan airports when we were in Varenna. So you might just look into that to see what it would cost. You could book the taxi to deliver you to Colico well ahead of the train departure time, for your peace of mind.

Posted by
20 posts

Hi - I am doing the same trip in reverse today. We took the train from Milan to Monbegno and then transferred on to the bus to tirano. The bus waited for everyone from the train to get on and departed probably within 10-15 minutes of train arrival.

Posted by
3 posts

Thank you all!

v1chang, I really appreciate the first-hand knowledge! Thanks so much for posting, this is great to know, and comforting. And Lola, a private transfer is a great thought to have in our back pocket as things get closer -- I would not have thought outside the box enough for that myself.

Karen

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