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Question: New Regionale digital ticket Check-In and missing tight connections on one ticket route

Posted by (Washington DC) on

Hi all! I've seen a few posts about the new Regionale train ticket Check in process and I'm a little confused about what this means if the route we've purchased has a tight connection. The way the rules are written make it sound like your ticket is only valid for the specific train(s) you checked in for.

My questions are:
1) If I were to check in online, does it make me check in for the entire route even if it includes 2 legs of regional trains?
2) There's a high likelihood I'll miss my second leg train (see below), so in that case, am I allowed to get on the next Regionale train from La Spezia --> Riomaggiore? Or will that be grounds for being fined since I will have checked in to a different Regionale train?

Last time I traveled to Italy in 2022, Regionale tickets were good for any train on the same route within 4hrs of the time on the ticket. So if I had a route where I had a connection and the first leg of my trip was slow/delayed and I had a tight connection and missed the Regionale I was supposed to get on, it was no biggie since I could just hop on the next Regionale train headed in that direction.

I recently bought train tickets on Trenitalia for my upcoming trip, not realizing that you now have to check in for Regionale trains, even with digital tickets. I'm fine with checking in, but really confused what this means for tight connections and if you were to miss your train. For example, I have booked the following route that includes 2 Regionale trains with only a 5 minute transfer time in La Spezia: Florence SM Novella (DEPART 10:53) --> La Spezia Centrale(ARRIVE 1.20pm; DEPART 1.25pm) --> Riomaggiore (1.32pm)

Thanks in advance!

UPDATE: I was able to chat with Trenitalia support and they said that if you’re on the first leg and it’s delayed (either delayed when you got on or you know it’ll get to the connection point late) then you should talk to the on board staff to ask them what to do.

I was able to find the document linked below regarding terms of carriage and translated it to English. Section 4.2 says:
“ Tickets must be validated before the departure of the train using the validators available at the station, at the starting location of the journey. Validation can be done until 11:59 PM on the day indicated on the ticket itself. From the moment of validation, the ticket is valid for 4 hours, unless different periods of use are provided for by specific regional/provincial tariff provisions. The journey must therefore be completed within this validity period. However, passengers who find themselves on a train at the expiration of the ticket's validity may continue the journey already started until the destination station without making intermediate stops. If the purchased travel solution involves a train change, the passenger may also complete the journey provided they use the first available train at the changing station.”

So it seems you validated ticket is good for 4 hrs and you can just hop on the next train if you miss your connection, but if that next available train is beyond 4 hrs, to be safe, you should chat with someone on board and ask them what to do.

Link to pdf: https://www.trenitalia.com/content/dam/tcom/allegati/trenitalia/condizioni-generali-di-trasporto/parte-iii---trasporto-regionale/4-Tipologia_dei_titoli_di_viaggio-Utilizzo_convalida_e_validita.pdf

Posted by
5293 posts

According to the rules on Trenitalia.com:

  • The journey date and time can be changed an unlimited number of times before 11:59 PM the day before your scheduled departure.

  • You can change your departure time an unlimited number of times on the day of your journey if you haven't yet checked in.

Since your journey entails traveling on 2 separate Regionale trains then I presume you can change the second ticket (La Spezia Centrale >> Riomaggiore ) to a later time in order to allow you a longer connection time, but this must be done before you “check-in”

I’d suggest you check train schedules from La Spezia Centrale to Riomaggiore and simply change your existing ticket by choosing the next train which looks like it departs at 13:46 (1:46) which will give you a longer connecting time.

Enjoy your time in beautiful Italy!

Posted by
6 posts

Thanks for the advice! Unfortunately when I go to Trenitalia to change the trip, it will not allow me to only change the 2nd leg to be at a later time. It forces me to select all legs. And then, when I try to search for a new overall journey, it only shows me a few select options that are the exact same trip “type” if that makes sense. It won’t show me any earlier options even if I set the search time to be earlier. I’ve tried this on mobile and desktop to no avail.

I’m thinking my best option will be to refund this purchase and then rebook with each leg separately so that I can check into each and also modify each leg separately.

Posted by
32336 posts

paghi,

For travel on Regionale trains, I rarely buy online tickets as I find it much easier to simply buy them at a self service ticket kiosk at the stations; there's no difference in price. The tickets have to be validated just prior to boarding the train, but that's easily done. For the trip from La Spezia Centrale to Riomaggiore, I sometimes just buy the ticket at La Spezia when I arrive there. There are frequent trains and that trip is only about five minutes.

Posted by
5293 posts

Is it possible to change the departure time from Florence to 9:53AM which gives you a longer connection time in La Spezia?

I’d recommend contacting Trenitalia via their online chat available 7 days a week 8am to 8pm (Italy time)

Please report back, thanks.

Posted by
5293 posts

The Trenitalia online chat looks promising.

I was hoping to get some helpful information for you so decided to contact Trenitalia’s online chat this morning.
The online agent was not able to help me because I was lacking the required ticket details (ticket code, travel date, etc) but advised me to contact them again once I had this information.

Hope you get some helpful answers…

Posted by
1101 posts

I asked a conductor while on the train toward La Spezia - for Regionale tix purchased on the app and already validated, you still have the four hour window if you miss the connection.

Note that you may be able to change the Regionale ticket after the first leg is underway - if you haven't already validated it - I did this when I saw that we were running late and would miss the connection - I found the conductor after I made the change. But this was unnecessary, as we had the four hour window.

As for waiting to purchase a Regionale ticket after you get to the connecting station: group or other discounts may be applied when you purchase a full itinerary - just one reason to buy a combined ticket and be done with it.

Posted by
6 posts

Thanks markcw, you’re correct! That is the same information I found (see update above) on the informational pdf I found online. So silly that they’re making you check in but then still honor the 4 hr window - the old way prior to this check in system was effectively the same but instead of the 4 hrs starting at the time of checking in, it began from the time one your purchased ticket. I guess this new way gives a little more flexibility up until you decide to hop on a train.

Posted by
79 posts

What I learned the hard way is once you've checked in, you can ride a LATER train, but not an earlier train.

We arrived at our station in time to catch a train an hour early. I opened the app to modify, but accidentally pressed "check in" instead (moving too quickly!). The train agent said there was nothing they could do at that point, which I found very frustrating, but it is what it is. So, if you are booking trains and are not sure what time you'll get, I'd continue to keep that earlier booking just in case. I had done the opposite, and booked the latest possible return to be safe, but now that I understand the rules I realized I did it all backwards!

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