I arrive at MXP at 8:40AM (if the flight stays on schedule). I have a train ticket for 10:35AM from Milano Central. Will i make it in time to catch Malpensa Express train to the Central station? Should i take a bus vs train? or should i just suck it up and book a later train ticket from Milano Central.
If it makes any difference, I'm a US citizen and will not have to wait for luggage since i'm only traveling with carry on.
Thanks!
It's already a very tight connection and if your flight is delayed at all you will have problems. You'll take 10 - 15 mins to get off the plane, you need to go through customs, find your way to transportation, and then find your train. With less than two hours between landing and departing the train station I wouldn't risk it. Why not just take the pressure off, book a later ticket and not worry about it?
mike,
It's generally not a good idea to book train tickets for premium trains on the day of flight arrival. If your flight is late or any other delays occur and you miss the train you've booked, your tickets are worthless and you'll likely have to buy more at full price. For arrival at MXP it's just as easy to buy tickets at the airport rail station after arrival. It's best not to pre-purchase in this case. If you buy at the airport tickets will cost a bit more as you'll be paying "Base" fare, but it's generally a safer method to use.
I assume your flight arrives at MXP Terminal 1? If that's the case, use the Malpensa Express to Milano Centrale. Note that there are two different destinations with the Malpensa Express. Be sure to board the one to Centrale and NOT Cadorna. Also, DON'T forget to validate your ticket prior to boarding the M.E.
Could you clarify where you'll be travelling to from Milano Centrale?
If you were a EU citizen it would be faster because the lines are generally shorter in the EU citizens' line. Being a US citizen will not get you through faster since you'll be in the same line with all other Non EU.
You are really taking big chances because the train trip alone from MXP to Milano Centrale is over 50 minutes (and make sure you don't take the Malpensa Express to the Cadorna station). If all stars align you can make it but I don't believe in astrology. I would buy the ticket at the MXP train station upon arrival. No discounts, but piece of mind.
Well. Ken beat me to it.
Thanks for the reply's.
Luckily I'm only going to Parma, I pre-purchased tickets on the FrecciaBianca for only €9 on a 2nd class super economy fare. So it wont be a big lost. What is the difference between Regionale / Intercity and the Freccia? Looks like if i miss my 10:35 train i can just take a later Regionale or Intercity that wouldn't be as much as a 2nd class ticket on the Freccia.
I jumped the gun when purchasing all of my rail tickets. I'm going to be going from Milan - Parma - Bologna - Florence - Venice - Milan. Also my tickets from Florence to Venice were booked on the wrong date due to the calender starting on a Monday instead of Sunday.
Just to trigger happy.
And on that note, I have 2 tickets going to Venice from florence on 2/14 if anyone wants them. I wont have any use for them i rebooked new tickets for the 13th.
The difference in train types is speed and comfort (and price).
Regionale means..you guessed it, Regional. Those are commuter trains designed to shuttle commuters from the suburbs and neighboring towns to the main cities in the region. They are slower since they tend to make more stops.
Regionale Veloce, make fewer stops than the Regionale. They are like express commuter trains.
You need to validate a Regionale ticket before boarding at the punching machines, just like a bus or subway.
Intercity trains connect the main cities. They generally stop only in the provincial capitals. The level of comfort is higher than the regionali. They require reservation for the specific train and seat, as such they don't need to have the ticket validated.
Freccia trains are high speed intercity trains (bullet trains). They are color coded Rossa, Argento, Bianca (Red, silver, white) depending on the speed rail line it travels on. The rossa travels on high speed dedicated lines where they routinely travel above 300km/h. The Rossa generally stops only in Regional Capitals. For example between Rome and Milan a Frecciarossa would stop only in Florence (Regional Capital of Tuscany) and Bologna (Regional Capital of Emilia-Romagna).
The Bianca is a high speed train traveling only on a regular speed rail and stopping also in provincial capitals. Argento is like a Frecciarossa but travels also on standard (non high speed) rail.
If you already have a prepurchased ticket, why not take a shot and try to make it? If you miss it, you just go and buy another for the next train.
Just got back from an amazing trip! Just wanted to let everyone know that luckily my flight arrived an hour early so i got out of the plane, out of customs, down to the malpensa express, in to milano centrale and even had time to buy a simcard at Wind and get on the train!
but if i had to redo it, i would take your advice and not prebuy any tickets on arrival day. it would have been very tight if i had landed on time. (but very possible if i was traveling alone and had a backpack and all of the stars aligned)
Thanks for the help
mike,
You're very welcome! It's good to hear that everything went well on your trip.
Yee Haw! Nothing to it.
