Train to Plane timing in Milan

What are your plans in the event of a rail strike or the sudden closure of a rail route for maintenance work on the day of your flight?

Monterosso to Milan’s airport’s is a long trip. You might think about overnighting closer to Milan the night before your flight.

Did you check flights to AMS from Pisa or Florence?

Agree with above- if you must fly out of Linate stay in Milan the night before

I agree with Kenko. I'd take a train to Milan the night before, then take an early flight the next morning. IMO, the risks of missing a flight when you have a 4+ hour travel to the airport are just too high. YMMV.

As you are seeing, this may not be the best plan. Too many variables that you cannot control. Why back track to Milan? Take a flight from Genoa. It is a good airport with options.

Thank you! I checked on Pisa and Florence and the train journey is a little shorter with Florence than Milan (Pisa didn't work from a flights perspective). It seems like switching to Florence from Milan doesn't really solve the concern about what happens if trains strike that day though. Seems like I should leave Monterosso as late as possible the previous day and overnight in Milan (or Florence) before flying out the next day, right?

I did check Genoa and we could fly from there but I have a friend who lives in Como so if we had most of a day in Milan we could go see him more easily.

The hypothetical return of Italian train strikes early this year is now a reality—- there will be a nationwide train strike on March 18. &19. That probably ( and hopefully) is not your date of travel. It’s just a reminder that you always need to be prepared for possible travel disruptions before an international flight.
No one wants to miss a pre-paid flight “due to unforeseen circumstances.”
Cheers!

Thanks for the info on the March strikes. My international flight is out of Amsterdam on May 12 and I am now thinking to take the train to Milan on May 10 (Sat) and fly from Milan to Amsterdam on May 11. Does this seem like a good plan? Not sure what I’d do if a strike is called for the weekend of May 10/11 without warning. Do they always give a week or so notice on strikes lasting more than 1 day?

Strikes are announced in advance. If that happens, that’s when you need to open your wallet and throw money at the problem to solve it. It could be changing your train and flights, an extra hotel night, going a day earlier, a looong train ride. The idea is to keep costs down elsewhere but if a problem comes up, throw money at it to get it solved and don’t look back.

Sometimes the strikes are settled before the date, but I don’t wait around to see. I make the changes immediately. A long time ago before strikes were announced beforehand, I was once blocked for a week in pretty bad circumstances.

Being in Milan the night before your flight is an excellent idea. In the event of any strikes, the regional train operator, Trenord, will arrange for substitute buses to run between Milan’s train stations and the airports. Terravision buses also will run to MPX.
Italian strikes usually target long distance intercity trains OR city buses and local commuter trains. it’s rare that they target both simultaneously. And private bus companies like Terravision , Itabus and Marinobus (www.Itabus.com/en. www.Marinobus.it/en) usually run their buses between major cities, and from major city centers to airports, in the case of Terravision, even during strike days.
That said, there is a General Strike coming up on March 18/19 that likely will shut down trains, planes and public-run buses.
The unions in Italy are required by law to file strike notices at least a few days in advance of any strike. And there are guaranteed Regionale trains Monday -Saturday ( Not Sundays) that will run from 6-9am and 3-6 pm so workers can get to and from work. In a pinch, it’s these slower Regionale trains that usually will get savvy travelers to their destinations.
Have a great Trip!