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In under a week I will be travelling to Venice from the UK via Switzerland.   It would seem that the weakest link in my journey is a train from Tirano to Milan.   The line has only recently reopened following a month of engineering work, but many trains are currently arriving more than 45 minutes late.  I’ve now selected an earlier train from Tirano which should leave me ample time to catch my connection to Venice  even with a 45 minute delay.  I haven’t, however, allowed for 2 hour delays which have occcasionally been occuring!

My question is - what do I do if I miss my connection - as trains from MIlan to Venice have compulsory reservations?   Can I use the interrail app to purchase last minute seat reservations for a later train?  (I read somewhere that seat reservations on the day can only be purchased from ticket offices.  Hopefully this was just wrong.)

If I do miss my train is there anything I can do to get a refund for my original seat reservation, given that the fault would lie entirely with the train operator?

Peter

  1. The rail planner app can't book any reservations.
  2. For the best ways to book reservations, check this page:
    https://www.seat61.com/interrail-and-eurail-reservations.htm
    Hint: it's not via Interrail. For Italy, Rail Europe and ÖBB are the best online choices IMO.
  3. If you miss a connection, speak with Trenitalia staff. In Milano Centrale, there should be "last minute” (or something similar) booth for this purpose on the station concourse (inside the gates). The new reservation should then be free of charge.
  4. It is certainly not true that reservations on the day can only be booked at a ticket office. Reservations for some trains may close a certain time before a train leaves from its origin station but in Italy that isn't the case. I've booked reservations in Italy 10 minutes before departure.

Many thanks for your response.  Really helpful re what to do when we arrive at Milano - especially the “last minute booth” tip

Re 1: I was referring to the ‘Seat Reservations facility’ in the “More” section of the app.

I don’t think Rail Europe is an option, unfortunately.  I have booked all my seat reservations with them.  However I did so on my laptop.  I contacted them when I could not see a way of booking a seat reservation on my phone, and they confirmed that this facility was unavailable to use on a phone.  I’ll investigate OBB.

 

Peter

Rail Europe currently only works with their desktop website. You can load that also on a mobile browser, usually with a menu option.

The More section in the app indeed shows some websites where you can book but it's by no means complete (for Italy Rail Europe and ÖBB are missing) and I'm not sure the distinction mobile/paper pass is still useful.

Note that Rail Europe does not currently show any Trenitalia trains for some unknown reason, so OBB is your best option.

Note that Rail Europe does not currently show any Trenitalia trains for some unknown reason, so OBB is your best option.

Rail Europe in Italy works for me, so must have been temporary. Or it's specific for a certain route on a certain date.

Rail Europe in Italy works for me, so must have been temporary. Or it's specific for a certain route on a certain date.

 

Is it working for you at the moment? I’ve tried many routes and dates, and all I get in the search results are Italo trains.

 

As an example, I just tried Naples to Rome on Sep 26th at 06.00. Every result is an Italo train marked with “Rail Pass doesn't apply for this trip”. Do you think you could perform the same search on your end to see if the results are the same?

 

Okay I’ve tried a few things, and just realised that it is not working because I’m browsing from within Italy.

I used a VPN to browse as if I was in Canada, and the Trenitalia results appeared! Is this a known issue?

Okay I’ve tried a few things, and just realised that it is not working because I’m browsing from within Italy.

I used a VPN to browse as if I was in Canada, and the Trenitalia results appeared! Is this a known issue?

Now that you mention it, I believe I've seen someone mention this before. No idea why that would be.

I used Rail Europe for an Italian reservation myself a few months ago while I was in Italy, but maybe i was using my own hotspot.

Now that you mention it, I believe I've seen someone mention this before. No idea why that would be.

I used Rail Europe for an Italian reservation myself a few months ago while I was in Italy, but maybe i was using my own hotspot.

Yeah it’s very strange behaviour. It’s not specific to interrail passes either. Even if I don’t add a pass, no Trenitalia trains show up.

 

Anyways, I’m glad I figured it out. Hopefully anyone else with the same issue stumbles across this thread.

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