Train travel challenges summer 2024–can we make a list?

The most direct route between Lyon and Turin is still out of service due to a landslide last August.

SNCF is providing one service daily between Paris and Milan, but you have to get off the train in Modane, get on a bus, take it to get past the landslide site and over the border, and then get back on another train in Bardonecchia or Oulx (i forget which). (Same process in the reverse direction.)

So - for alternatives you have Flixbus I guess, or you can go across through Switzerland, and then down to Milan.

Or drive like we did last week.

Are they not providing a train replacement bus between Stresa and Arona? Hard to say as the start date of the construction project is the same as the semiannual schedule adjustment.
There was a construction project on that line last summer closer to Milan. I seem to recall Sesto Calende and Arona.

Apparently it is a multi-year project to upgrade that heavily-used section.

I was looking only at SBB, not Trenitalia. Maybe the schedule for the bus transfer isn’t in place yet, and will appear on Trenitalia with the June schedule change.

I am trying to figure out how to get from Milan to Locarno on July 3, 2024. (We are starting out that morning in Santa Margherita Ligure, then going by train to Milan, and were originally planning to take the train from Milan to Locarno, but it looks like this route includes the affected one between Arona and Stresa? Does anyone have any suggestions for how to get from Milan to Locarno? Also, does anyone know what it means on the Trenitalia site when it says "Attention. Invalid Credentials: CID"? When I search for trains between Milan and Locarno, Milan and Lugano, and Milan and Bellinzona on that date, the Trenitalia site shows trains, but when I click on them, I get that "Invalid Credentials" message. When I search for trains between Milan and Domodossola it says "we did not find any travel solutions. Try changing the search parameters." Frustrating.
Thank you in advance if you can offer any help!!

To add to my above posting...On Omio, it shows trains from Milan to Lugano and from Milan to Bellinzona, so it looks like I might be able to purchase one of those routes through Omio. If I did, I'm thinking it makes more sense to go Milan to Bellinzona, then train from Bellinzona to Locarno (rather than the Lugano route.) Is that correct?
Thank you!

The RE 80 goes direct from Milano Centrale to Locarno every hour at 43 past the the hour and takes 1 hour and 55 minutes. It is a TILO train, a joint venture of the canton of Ticino and the province of Lombardy. (TIcinoLOmbardy, get it?).

Cost is 26.80 CHF. It is too far away to buy tickets now. Buy at www.sbb.ch or the SBB app.

Forget Omio, please.

Please look at a Swiss rail map—-you will see that the route from Milan to Locarno is totally different from the problem area between Milan and Domodossola (unless one want to go from Milano to Domodossola and then take the Centovalli railway from Domodossola to Locarno. that would be a long detour.

I do not know why Trenitalia is giving such strange results for Milano to Locarno. If I look there now, I see EC trains with a change at Bellinzona, which would get you there. But if I look on SBB.ch, the Swiss rail site, for July 3, they show hourly regional trains going directly from Milano Centrale to Locarno (RE 80). They depart at 43 minutes past the hours, and take 1 hour 55 minutes to reach Locarno.

I cannot explain the difference between these results. But since Locarno is in Switzerland, I trust their website for accurate information.

For getting from Milan to Locarno, the difficult-to-access (because of the infrastructure work between Arona and Stresa) Centovalli route via Domodossola is very scenic, but the more direct route via Como and Bellinzona is both faster and less expensive.

Lola,
Several years ago I took the Centovalli railroad from Domodossola to Locarno. It was one of my favorite rail trips because of the scenery. I had hoped to take it again last year, but it didn't work out in our eventual itinerary. I hope your final plans for your trip work prove to be less complicated than you now anticipate. Happy planning!

Traveler Girl

Traveler Girl, I believe we likely will take the Centovalli route to reach Locarno. It will get us there several hours earlier in the day, and the cost can be fully covered with a Saver Day Pass even though the train originates in and travels through Italy.

Hi Lola, Thanks for the “Showmethejourney” link.
The landslides in the Alps are caused by heavy rainfall and the rapid melting of glaciers—both ominous signs of climate change.

One issue you will encounter when planning trips is that Trenitalia does not publish timetable data as far ahead as SBB.
SBB always publishes a whole year at one. From May this year you will be able to see what next year's timetable will be, and from October onwards it will be in the on line planner.

So you can currently plan trains in Switzerland for July without any issue.

Since the RE80 train is operated jointly by SBB and Trenord that train's schedule is already available till December on the SBB site, but not on the Italian site.... For the EC trains however it is more complicated, as those are still running to a temporary timetable, because of the Gotthard Tunnel issue.

All of this information has been so helpful and assured me that we will be able to make it to Locarno.
Thank you all so much for clarifying things for me!

Thank you for this post and the link to the construction website - I was trying to book Venezia - Milano - Brig/Zermatt in June, which should have been easy on the main Milano-Zurich line... but I was not getting the results I expected. The construction Milano - Domodossola is the issue.

I am looking for options now, which may involve a flight Venezia-Zurich, as much as I would prefer the train!

Why not go Venezia—Milan—-Luzern instead?