I was looking at trains from Vernazza to Venice, and there is one transfer in Monterosso of 15 minutes which being a small station should be easy enough; however there is a 13 transfer time in Milan which must be a much larger station. How hard is it to navigate Milan Centrale, and how strict are those times?
Molto Grazie
Milan is a big station, but all the tracks are close together and on the same level. Since it is a terminal type station. you get off the inbound train, walk to the front of the train to the main area, then walk to your new platform and walk back to your carriage and board. 13 minutes should be plenty of time.
If your inbound train is late and you miss the connection, you can get the next train after changing your seat reservation. Trains to Venice go at least once per hour. Since the late inbound would be Trenitalia's fault, there would be no charge for taking the next train.
To add to Sam's post, there would be no charge if your incoming train is late but if you have a reserved seat, you need to exchange it for a new ticket. There is a help desk kiosk in the platform area, without going to the ticket sales window in the terminal.
I agree that 13 minutes are enough, but www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en doesn't (shouldn't...) display connections shorter than 15 minutes at Milano Centrale.
j.riley.e If you're using a reseller's site and the first train is late there could be problems at the counter.
Milano Centrale has its own website, with maps: http://www.milanocentrale.it/en/map# You'll arrive at the platform level.
Yes, I don't see any connection shorter than 15 minutes, which is between some of the IC trains arriving from Monterosso connecting to a Freccia to Venice.
