Iandor

Just wondering how easy it is to change trains in Milan. My daughter and her partner will have to do so at the end of the year. They are very inexperienced travellers. This will be their first time alone in Europe and they will be making their way from Venice to Paris

altamiro

Milano Centrale is a very large and busy station. It is a dead-end station, so your daughter should make her way to the front of the train before it pulls into the station. She also should know (ask the conductor) which track the connecting train departs from, but also look for any track changes on the overhead departure board before she goes to the assigned track.

Dukey

I personally wouldn't advise them to "ask theconductor" because they may not find the "conductor" and if there has BEEN any change in tracks the "conductor" probably wouldn't know for sure, anyway.

Do you have any idea what the connection time is going to be?

Altamiro is correct in that Milano Centrale is a large, usually busy station. But if the travelers get off the train from wherever they are ON the train and look at the head end of the platform they will see the large automated board which lists all of the trains departing (usually within the next couple of hours or beyond).

They should know the scheduled time their train to Venice is to depart (the departures will be listed in order of departure time).

Unless these is a VERY short connection time there is no need to make their way to the front of the train IMO...useless and a pain in the butt especially with luggage in tow.

Dukey

BTW..the term for "track" in Italian is "binario" which may be abbreviated on the departures board as "bi" or "bin"

zeppole

Milano Centrale is one of the easiest train stations in Italy for people with luggage switching trains, since it's one of the few you don't have to haul your luggage up and down stairs to get from one track to the other, that there is only one walk to obvious, and the main board for departures is visible from nearly every point in the station.

I think the advice to go to the front of the train is not only unnecessary, it's probably not possible. As trains pull into the station in Italy, Italians tend to get up and wait at the doors. Your daughter and companion will not be able to fight their way through the knots of people at both ends of the cars.

And Dukey is right. The conductor is unlikely to know the train binario, nor will the conductor be easy to locate (off to have a cigarette!). Your daughter's train track will be plainly listed on the huge overhead "Partenze" board at its scheduled departure time, and whether it is on time or late. Remember that Paris is "Pariggi" for Italians.

Do they need to change trains again between Milano and Pariggi? If so, they should know the name of the town where they will change.

zeppole

Sorry for the fast typing: There is only one obvious way to walk when you get off the train. No confusion. Everybody walks the same way to change trains or exit.

Iandor

Thankyou for your replies. According to the timetables the train will arrive in Milan from Venice at 14.05 No Platform no is listed and leave for Brig in Switzerland from platform 1 at 14.25. They are staying in Brig overnight before heading to Paris the next day

zeppole

They'll have time for a cup of coffee.

adrienne

Tell your daughter to check the departure board for the track number since things may change in the next 5 months. You cannot depend on the train to Brig leaving from track 1 just because it does so today.

cathies

It's a very beautiful station (I think), tell her to look up and around!!

marty

It is a beautiful station, but I was there in late June, and there was a lot of construction. Things were pretty much a mess!

PalenQ

IMO to put only a 20-minute transfer time into a humungous station like Milan Centrale is foolish - even if on time inexperienced travelers may not have enough time to track down their train from the dozens and dozens of platforms - often mobbed by folks and their bags coming and going. And the Venice train could well be late

Since there are so many trains from Venice to Milan why not just take an earlier train from Venice and put angst to rest with a connection IME is too tight - esp because if you miss the Milan-Paris train you have to wait some hours before another train.

thursdaysd

I agree that 20 minutes to make a connection on the Italian train system is a bit optimistic. Not because Milan train station is difficult to navigate (it's easy), but because the inbound train is likely to be late. I have seldom been on an Italian train that ran to time.

My first visit to Italy I booked tickets from Stresa to Milan and Milan to Rome with a 10 minute connection and wondered why the TA tried to talk me out of it. I only made the connection (breathless) by walking all the way through the inbound train to the first carriage as we neared Milan, and because the Rome train left from the next platform over. The departure board is, fortunately, very easy to see as you get off the trains.

zeppole

Are they taking a Eurostar? They should. It's not likely to be late.

If they are taking another class of train, yes, Italian trains can be late, but unless these youngsters have mobility problems, they can easily walk across the Milano train station in 20 minutes, with luggage and other people. It's hardly a mile wide!

I'd find out when the next train to Brig is. If there is another within 90 minutes, I'd stick with the original plans. Otherwise, I might hop an earlier train -- but even then I wouldn't bother giving it much advance time.

You'll note in thursday's story, he or she caught the train.

PalenQ

Depends or in this case depended on what type of ticket they have for Milan-Paris - discounted unchangeable or not? If so 20 mins is too short with the risks

and the Brig route is longer and requires at least one if not two changes of trains.

Dukey

If you have a full 20 minutes at Centrale there is no problem IMO; actually with TEN minutes there probably isn't any problem....

Dukey

Pal..get a GRIP..there are not necessarily ANY changes on trains from Milan to Brig...

zeppole

If the Brig route is longer and requires train changes, then there are probably more, not fewer trains, they can catch in the highly unlikely event they miss their train.

Do these young adults need to be in Paris because they have a meeting with Sarkozy about reducing the nuclear stockpile to zero? Or are they like the rest of us -- if they miss their plane, train or bus, they'll get on the next one and have less time to linger over breakfast the next morning?

thursdaysd

"You'll note in thursday's story, he or she caught the train. " - if I had stayed in my seat as we neared Milan I wouldn't have caught it. If the outbound train had left from a more distant platform I wouldn't have caught it. And I've had international trains arrive more than 20 minutes late in Italy.

PalenQ

Dukey - no no changes to Brig but i think the angle was if they missed the Milan-Paris train then to change directions and go via Brig, Lausanne or Bern, etc. and you need reservations before boarding those TGVs Swiss to Paris, another hassle to do on short notice.

eurostar Italia trains are less likely to be late i believe because they have some kind of fare guarantee if later than a certain time but i would not depend on it.

Again the big thing would be whether they had a discounted unchangeable Milan-Paris ticket or not.

I'd have told them to consider taking the overnight direct Venice to Paris train for simplicity and to save hotel costs.