I'm using trainline.com to put together our travel plans in Italy. Some of the trips start on a regional train but then transfer to a fast train that requires reservations. Some of the connections in the suggested itineraries look tight. I've read that trains are often late. In general, how much time should I allow for transfers? Or is it specific to the station?
ed. Added "Italy." I thought it was self-evident since I was posting in the Italy forum. :-)
What country(s)? It depends also on what station and on what platforms you are transferring between. I general, Trainline will only show legal connections which you should be able to make if everything is on time.
In Germany, you are always allowed to take an earlier regional train that connects to an ICE, EC or IC train, no matter what your ticket says. Only the ICE, EC or IC train is binding. Italy is a little more complicated, but if you miss a connection due to the late arriving regional train, you can take the next fast train, but you will have to get new seat reservations for free.
Hi Giangilberto from Milan, my advice is not to buy your ticket through Trainline, but rather directly from Trenitalia.
The reason is simple: I ran a test booking on the Trainline website myself, and the terms for combined-leg tickets differ from Trenitalia’s. Specifically, if your itinerary involves a train change, Trainline issues separate tickets rather than a single, unified ticket, consequently, the terms vary depending on the type of train used for each leg.
For instance, if you are switching from a regional train to a Freccia (high-speed) train on a combined itinerary, the high-speed ticket must be a "Base" fare rather than "Economy."
While "Base" costs more, it is the only one that can be modified, if you had an Economy ticket and the regional train was delayed, you would lose the ticket entirely. It cannot be changed or refunded, and Trainline explicitly states that it does not guarantee onward travel.
The key difference lies in the second ticket. With an Economy fare, you can only pay the price difference to upgrade it before departure. With a "Base" fare, you can modify it for free beforehand, and, crucially, you can change it at the ticket counter up to one hour after departure.
That one-hour window after departure provides exactly the protection you need. If the first train is delayed and you miss your connection, you can simply go to the ticket counter and change your ticket.
In any case, I reiterate my advice to book everything through Trenitalia, for combined-leg journeys issued as a single booking, they guarantee continuity, ensuring you don't lose your ticket even if the first train runs late.
You can check the conditions stated by Trenitalia on its official website regarding missed connections caused by delays to another train (or replacement service) on a single combined ticket at the link below:
When you buy a through ticket on the official sites of the railway companies all your connections are protected.
It works this way all over the European Union and the fare you paid (full or discounted) does not matter. Of course it does not matter as long as passengers miss their connection because of the railway company and not because they wasted time drinking wine and window-shoppin' around the station.
In Italy, If you miss a connection you can either freely take the next Regionale train or you must get a new seat reservation for free. All trains but the Regionales have mandatory reserved seating, so you can't simply get on the next train because you would not know where to seat. Simply Go to one of the red booths by the tracks and show your PNR, they'll know what to do.
Trainline is a reseller, they do not run any train. What Giangilberto explained above about the way Trainline manages discounted fares borders a scam. Especially if they don't clearly warn their customers about it. Just like when resellers combine tickets from competing companies without explaining the consequences.
Regarding special circumstances at train stations, Bologna Centrale stands out. All of the regional trains call at the street level platforms, while all the fast Freccia and Italo trains call at the deep underground platforms. So transferring from a regional train to a fast train at Bologna Centrale takes extra time.
Speaking of Italo, their prices are often slightly lower than Trenitalia Freccia trains. So if Trainline is showing a connection between a regional train (all are operated by Trenitalia) to an Italo train, you know that is definitely not protected as they are totally different companies.
Trains like airlines should always be booked directly with the transportation provider. Trainline is good for itinerary planning, but not so much for ticket purchases.
Trains like airlines should always be booked directly with the
transportation provider.
THIS ^^
NOTE - regional trains do have have seat assignments and can get so crowded you can't get on and need to take a later train, so keep that in mind when you plan your trips. They can also be so crowded you have to stand, so please pack light.
I like to leave about an hour between trains to account for delays, but this might not be practical depending on your needs.
I also recommend buying directly from Trenitalia as you will likely need their help if your train is delayed significantly or cancelled.
I was just at the Naples train station two weeks ago and our first of two trains got cancelled literally 3 minutes before it was supposed to leave - there was an accident on the tracks.
We headed to the Trenitalia office in the Naples Central train station and one of their employee there got us rebooked.
NOTE - you need to get a piece of paper with a number from a little machine inside the Trenitalia customer service office to talk to someone. There is a machine that is tricky to figure out - watch a local to see how they use the machine to get a number. You do not stand in line and wait your turn, you get a numbered piece of paper and wait until they call the number. If you have a partner, have one person wait in line and another one go to get a printed number.
NOTE - you need to get a piece of paper with a number from a little
machine inside the Trenitalia customer service office to talk to
someone. There is a machine that is tricky to figure out - watch a
local to see how they use the machine to get a number. You do not
stand in line and wait your turn, you get a numbered piece of paper
and wait until they call the number. If you have a partner, have one
person wait in line and another one go to get a printed number.
Man, that sounds complicated, and typically Italian. Here are our potential train layovers for next March (not out yet, based on November schedules)
Torino Main 34 minutes
Torino Porta Susa 47 minutes
Milan 68 minutes
...and then plenty of connections in Switzerland and Germany over the following week. I think I'm OK, but what happens if there's a late cancellation and I have everything on the iPhone in the Trenitalia app? I will absolutely have hard copies of everything, as a failsafe. Next is to navigate the same way with DB Bahn. In theory...everything looks great on paper. But I've ridden European trains enough to realize that sometimes comes the unexpected.
And usually, common sense prevails and Plan B is enacted. But for a few fleeting moments at times, as well as you prepare, you have to think on your feet. If a customer service person is not present wherever the snafu happens, you may have to navigate it online via your phone. I will have the DB Bahn app and hopefully will be familiar with it by next March.
Thank you for all the tips. I only used trainline to help look for options. However, sometimes, the connections they suggested sounded way too tight, thus my original question. I also found that they had bad information, at times. A couple of trips they had as nonstop had one stop. And they also listed a train route totally within Italy run by an Austrian company that cannot be accessed. but the website gave me an outline.
Once I saw which trains were running at what time (regional, express, company), I went to the specific train company to map out my options and make my purchases.
I was surprised and disappointed to see that the regional trains for our trips were actually more expensive, as well as slower, than the fast trains, at least when comparing the cheapest, non-refundable fares. I had been reading online that they were much cheaper but that is apparently only for cancellable/refundable tickets. Fair enough, but a surprise.
For our trip from Milan Centrale to Bolzano via Verona, we did purchase a non-refundable ticket for the Verona-to-Bolzano leg. We're taking a regional train from Milan to Verona early enough that we can take another regional train and still make our reservation if the first gets cancelled. If we have to take the second train, our layover is still over an hour before departure of the fast train to account for a delay.
If everything goes smoothly with the first regional-train departure, since the old part of Verona is within walking distance, we'll enjoy checking the town out for a couple hours before taking our fast train to Bolzano.
Man, that sounds complicated, and typically Italian.
Thinkin' that pushing a button and not having to stand waiting in line to be complicated sounds typically American. Just like not knowing that the same system is used all over the world. As American as the apple pie.
No doubt, Marco, it is definitely American to 'expect' that! As an Italian-American myself, I only lament the inefiiciency at times because I know that it's handled quite differently once we hit Switzerland north, and every little bit of minutiae is spelled out. Even with Trenitalia at times, it gets weird. Still pretty good, though.
Just FYI, the reason it’s a good idea to specify in the title and text of your message what country you’re asking about even if you have posted in that forum, is that many people like me look at “all topics” on the forum which includes all posts, rather than just at one country page, and while it is true that you can see if you look closely which page the message has been posted to, that’s not very prominent information, plus it’s reasonably common for people to mistakenly put their message on the wrong page.
@Slate. Thank you for providing the reasoning for including information I mistakenly thought was unnecessary.
