Bologna Train Station: here, there, up, down, where?
Oct 9th, 2017, 04:44 PM
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Bologna Train Station: here, there, up, down, where?
Hello everyone,
We're just about to leave for our two weeks in the Emilia-Romagna region, October 15. We will be using trains for all of our stops (Rome to Mantova, then Ravenna, Brisighella, Bologna, then back to Rome to return home). I've been reading about the Bologna train station layout, since we will be changing trains there from the Rome Freccia to the regionale to Mantova, then again from Mantova to Ravenna, and then yet again from Brisighella to Bologna and back onto a Freccia to return to Rome.
The Bologna station looks challenging. If I understand it correctly, there are several areas of tracks. Going from Rome to Mantova is no problem because we zoom right through Bologna on the Freccia to Verona and then get the regionale down to Mantova.
It's the Mantova to Ravenna leg that I'm wondering about. We would take the regionale from Mantova to Bologna, arriving at "binario 4 ovest" (assuming that the web schedule listing doesn't change, which it may well do, but just to work through this let's assume it's binario 4 ovest...) and then we catch another regionale to Ravenna, leaving Bologna on "binario 10".
So here's my question, after this long-winded prelude: from the diagrams on the Bologna train station web site, it looks like the ground level tracks are arranged in 3 sections, in one long line: west group (ovest), main group (which has no adjective next to the numbers, just the numbers themselves), and east group (est). So in the case of our going from Mantova to Ravenna, it looks like we arrive on the west end of this line of tracks and then we walk over to the central group of tracks to find track 10?
Is this right? All the track numbers except 16-19 are on the ground level, east grou-main group-west group?
I've read some TRs here and elsewhere in which people almost missed their trains because of the confusing layout of the station and just wanted to be clear about what is where.
Thanks in advance for your help!
We're just about to leave for our two weeks in the Emilia-Romagna region, October 15. We will be using trains for all of our stops (Rome to Mantova, then Ravenna, Brisighella, Bologna, then back to Rome to return home). I've been reading about the Bologna train station layout, since we will be changing trains there from the Rome Freccia to the regionale to Mantova, then again from Mantova to Ravenna, and then yet again from Brisighella to Bologna and back onto a Freccia to return to Rome.
The Bologna station looks challenging. If I understand it correctly, there are several areas of tracks. Going from Rome to Mantova is no problem because we zoom right through Bologna on the Freccia to Verona and then get the regionale down to Mantova.
It's the Mantova to Ravenna leg that I'm wondering about. We would take the regionale from Mantova to Bologna, arriving at "binario 4 ovest" (assuming that the web schedule listing doesn't change, which it may well do, but just to work through this let's assume it's binario 4 ovest...) and then we catch another regionale to Ravenna, leaving Bologna on "binario 10".
So here's my question, after this long-winded prelude: from the diagrams on the Bologna train station web site, it looks like the ground level tracks are arranged in 3 sections, in one long line: west group (ovest), main group (which has no adjective next to the numbers, just the numbers themselves), and east group (est). So in the case of our going from Mantova to Ravenna, it looks like we arrive on the west end of this line of tracks and then we walk over to the central group of tracks to find track 10?
Is this right? All the track numbers except 16-19 are on the ground level, east grou-main group-west group?
I've read some TRs here and elsewhere in which people almost missed their trains because of the confusing layout of the station and just wanted to be clear about what is where.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Oct 9th, 2017, 08:01 PM
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I am Italian and I often had to change train in Bologna. recenty there have been some renovations that made the whole thing worse.
think is the worst train station ever built and i am alwasy afraid when i have to change there.
think is the worst train station ever built and i am alwasy afraid when i have to change there.
Oct 9th, 2017, 09:31 PM
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May I suggest that on the Trenitalia website, if you open it in English, click on customer service at the top, and it will give instructions for an online chat. Not sure if they will have info about where to locate the tracks, but it might be worth a try.
Oct 10th, 2017, 01:03 AM
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There is an underground passage connecting all the tracks. When you arrive in Bologna you will need to pick up your luggage and walk down stairs one flight to the underground passage. You will find monitors on the wall informing you of which track your train to Ravenna is on.. If your layover is more than 10 minutes, you might need to wait for you train/track to appear on the screen. Eveentually you will need to carry your luggage back upstairs to the track level.
Returning from Brisighella to Bologna, if you are only switching trains in the station, you will need find that Freccia trains require you to take several escalators down to the Freccia tracks (which are the highest numbered tracks). The route is clearly signed and there is also a "path" outlined on the floor that you can follow.
If you are staying in Bologna after Brisighella, and will be returning to the train station to catch your Freccia train to Rome, then the easiest way to get to the Freccia tracks is to take a taxi and tell the driver you want Bologna Centrale FRECCIA. He or she will take you to the "far" side of the station, and you only need to descend the escaltors to find yourself at the Freccia tracks.
Returning from Brisighella to Bologna, if you are only switching trains in the station, you will need find that Freccia trains require you to take several escalators down to the Freccia tracks (which are the highest numbered tracks). The route is clearly signed and there is also a "path" outlined on the floor that you can follow.
If you are staying in Bologna after Brisighella, and will be returning to the train station to catch your Freccia train to Rome, then the easiest way to get to the Freccia tracks is to take a taxi and tell the driver you want Bologna Centrale FRECCIA. He or she will take you to the "far" side of the station, and you only need to descend the escaltors to find yourself at the Freccia tracks.
Oct 10th, 2017, 02:15 AM
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The underground passage doesn't connect to the est and ovest tracks. The local trains on those tracks pull into the trackhead, and back out, so they don't need an underground passage. When you get off the local trains, you can head to track one, which is adjacent to the station, and doesn't need an underground passage. There you can get stairs or an elevator to the underground passage that connects tracks 2 to 10(??). (All of the tracks now have both elevators and stairs. There can be a wait for the elevator, so most people take the stairs.)
As Massimop says, the Frecciarossa tracks are several levels down, and the way to them is clearly marked. (When these tracks first opened, the signage was very poor, but now it's pretty clear.)
Be careful, only the Frecciarossa trains (and the Italo trains) use those tracks you're calling "Freccia" tracks! The Frecciargento, going for example to Venice and Padova, use the regular tracks 2-10. Italo trains also use the same tracks as the Frecciarossa trains.
As Massimop says, the Frecciarossa tracks are several levels down, and the way to them is clearly marked. (When these tracks first opened, the signage was very poor, but now it's pretty clear.)
Be careful, only the Frecciarossa trains (and the Italo trains) use those tracks you're calling "Freccia" tracks! The Frecciargento, going for example to Venice and Padova, use the regular tracks 2-10. Italo trains also use the same tracks as the Frecciarossa trains.
Oct 10th, 2017, 02:18 AM
#6
Just IN that station a few weeks ago. It is NOT complicated for somebody who has recently lived through a STORM. You are OVERTHINKING this or selling yourself short.
Follow the signs and watch the monitors.
Follow the signs and watch the monitors.
Oct 10th, 2017, 03:28 AM
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bvlenci,
There are stairs and an escalator near the head of the platforms of the "Ovest: train tracks that go downstairs to the underground passage.
http://www.bolognatoday.it/cronaca/s...passaggio.html
It is really exhausting to keep up with all the misinformation posted on Fodor's. As much as I feel I want to help, it's just too frustrating and time consuming, and finally just close to enraging. So I quit.
EYandBTV,
I agree with Dukey that you will not find the station difficult. It never occurred to me that you might be taking a Frecciaargento to Rome, but if you are and wish to be left off by a taxi driver at the old main entrance to the station, it is in the piazza Medaglie d'Oro, while the new entrance is via de' Carracci.
Buon viaggio
There are stairs and an escalator near the head of the platforms of the "Ovest: train tracks that go downstairs to the underground passage.
http://www.bolognatoday.it/cronaca/s...passaggio.html
It is really exhausting to keep up with all the misinformation posted on Fodor's. As much as I feel I want to help, it's just too frustrating and time consuming, and finally just close to enraging. So I quit.
EYandBTV,
I agree with Dukey that you will not find the station difficult. It never occurred to me that you might be taking a Frecciaargento to Rome, but if you are and wish to be left off by a taxi driver at the old main entrance to the station, it is in the piazza Medaglie d'Oro, while the new entrance is via de' Carracci.
Buon viaggio
Oct 10th, 2017, 10:39 AM
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When Massimop says you have to "pick up your luggage and walk down stairs", when there is an elevator, that's not misinformation. When she forgets that some of the "Freccia" trains don't depart from the subterranean tracks, that's not misinformation.
When I say that access to the underpass is only needed for tracks 2-10, and that there are stairs and an elevator to take you to the underpass alongside track 1, all true by the way , Massimop has an apoplectic fit and announces she's quitting. Go right ahead, Massi, the world didn't end the last time you quit.
When I say that access to the underpass is only needed for tracks 2-10, and that there are stairs and an elevator to take you to the underpass alongside track 1, all true by the way , Massimop has an apoplectic fit and announces she's quitting. Go right ahead, Massi, the world didn't end the last time you quit.
