I'll be flying into Venice Marc Polo Airport in September & have a train ticket to travel from Venice Mestre to Padova. I'm concerned that I may arrive late at the train station & may have to take a later train than I have a ticket for. I saw a website that said that there's a 4 hour window for Regionale train tickets, so it looks like I could possibly take a later train using the same ticket. To double check I went on the Trenitalia website, but could not confirm this as true . I even tried their U.S. phone number (1-206-258-7203) but kept getting disconnected after a few rings. So, does anyone know if there's a 4 hour window on Trenitalia Regionale tickets?
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7229 posts
Yes there is
All you need to know here:
https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-italy.htm
Just FYI
There was no need to purchase a regional ticket in advance
They can’t sell out and price never changes
You could have waited til you get to Mestre or use the Trenitalia app
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23642 posts
There is a four hour window from the time you validate the Regionale tickets -- that little machine that time stamps the ticket. If you buy the Regionale ticket on line --- never, never recommend that you do so -- then you put a starting time on that ticket when your purchased it on-line. And it is good for four hours from that the starting time that you placed on the ticket. AND it doesn't have to be validated for that reason. For that reason alone I would never purchase a Regional ticket until I was in the station. And if your miss your planned R train, you can get on any other R headed in the correct direction for four hours. There are NO reserved seats on a Regionale train.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17562 posts
We, on the other hand, prefer to buy our Regionale tickets online to save time at the station. That 4-hour window is generous, and in the past when we planned to purchase at the station it took too long. Either there were long lines at the ticket machines, or when we got there it would not take our credit card without a PIN, which we no longer have.
Also, last trip we had trouble even finding the validation machine. I cannot remember the station, but there was only one machine and it was wel-hidden.
If you do miss your train and you have to take a later one, make sure it is an Regionale and not an IC, EC, or Frecce train.
Posted by
North Carolina
2499 posts
It’s good to know for future reference that you don’t need to buy Regionale tickets in advance, but if you do miss the 4 hour window on the one you already have, you can just buy another one - it’s only 3.80 € .
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
I use the Trenitalia app to buy tickets with my phone, so I don't have to buy Regionale tickets in advance or wait in line at a station.
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1144 posts
Hello jimkostreva, and welcome to the boards,
Another vote for the app. Look up schedules, track trains and literally buy the tickets as you get on the train if it's already there when you show up.
I downloaded the app on the advice of a friend but didn't think I'd use it for tickets until we showed up at La Spezia station 15 minutes before the train left and all the tickets machines had huge lines. I literally bought tickets as the line moved two spaces and never looked back.
Some people advocate saving screenshots of the tickets for the conductor "just in case" which I guess isn't a bad idea but it was never an issue for us.
Have a greta trip and don't sweat regionale trains,
=Tod
Posted by
Washington DC
28247 posts
You cannot necessarily buy tickets as you board the train. Online sales cut off a few minutes (at least five, I think) before departure. I believe vending-machine sales do, too. I am lucky not to have been fined for being on a train without a ticket. I was informed that the fine for being without a ticket on even the cheapest regional-train trip is €50. The look-for-a-conductor-and-buy-a-ticket-at-a-somewhat-inflated-price procedure is no longer an option.
Posted by
Italy
3812 posts
The look-for-a-conductor-and-buy-a-ticket-at-a-somewhat-inflated-price procedure is no longer an option.
How did you find it out? It would mean conductors do not sell tickets anymore and I haven't heard anything about it.
Fines are rightly high when fares are so cheap thanks to taxpayers' money.
Posted by
Washington DC
28247 posts
I was told this by the fellow from whom I wanted to buy a ticket. I was in Campania in March, on a regional train--maybe between Salerno and Eboli. The fellow looked at me pityingly (I'm old), explained the 50-euro bit in English and let it slide, which was very kind of him. I had tried to use the app, but it must have been too close to the departure time.
Perhaps that's a private rail line rather than Trenitalia, with different rules? I assumed things had changed partly because of the ease of using the app.
I've run into similar purchase-timing restrictions when trying to use a vending machine for Spanish bus tickets and the app for Lux Express bus tickets in Estonia.