Trenitalia

Hi Janet. Everyone's experience will be different, but for me the 'milk run' trains such as between CT towns are rarely on time, however most intercity trains were on time. we had four connections from Bologna to Cinque Terre and all were within 2 minutes of sched; intercity train from CT to Milan was withn 5 minutes of sched. Allow plenty of time to buy ticket. If possible, buy ticket a few hours ahead of time or night before. in small stations, maybe only one ticket window and a line; in large stations like Milan, many windows and machines, but also many customers. Don't want to be standing in line nervous to miss your train. also take advantage of travel agencies to buy your ticket; often more convenient than at station.

People talk about how great the German are for being on time and how poor the Italians are. In our experience both are about the same. Unless there are weather problems they run pretty close to on time all the time. No point in being in the station more than 30 mins ahead because they do not post the track/platform until 30 mins or less ahead of arrival time. If you don't have ticket, probably an hour if you have to use a ticket window and on a busy weekend a couple of hours. The line is unpredictable.

Bob & Frank - Thanks for the input. Janet

Good answers above! Le me add that yes, some Italian trains can sometimes be a bit late, but so can trains all over Europe. Depending on the kind of train you take, how much luggage you have, and how big the station is, being there 10-15 minutes ahead of the scheduled departure time is usually enough. Best to buy tickets in advance, though, as smaller stations are often unmanned, and their ticket machines don't always work. You can also buy train tickets in travel agencies, at no extra cost.

Somehow I have always had trains on time going into Venice, sometimes as much as 30 minutes late leaving, and that's where they start.

For help demystifying the Italian train system, try www.roninrome.com. It's an amazing resource.

I travel frequently on Trenitalia trains and have never had any problems to speak of....just try to remember to validate your ticket before boarding your train. Also, never hesitate to ask if you are waiting at the proper track as it can sometimes be confusing.

Thanks everyone. I'll stop worrying! Janet