A friend is arriving in Milan and wants to take the train from Milan to Venice.
I think there is a bus that leaves Malpensa and goes to Milano Centrale where you can catch a train to Venezia s lucia.
Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks.

Yes, take the Malpensa airporter bus direct to Milano Centrale, from where you take the train to Venezia S. Lucia. Allow 60-90 minutes for the bus ride, depending on traffic conditions. Also give yourself enough time to buy the train ticket from the ticket window agent or from the automated ticket kiosk.

There are actually two bus operators between Malpensa and Milano Centrale: take the bus that leaves first. Fares and travel times are nearly the same. Malpensa Shuttle and Malpensa Express are the names of the two companies. Buses leave from directly outside the arrivals area on the lower level of the airport terminal. You'll see them lined up about halfway down the terminal building exterior. You can buy the ticket from the bus driver.

Once at Milano Centrale, it takes about 3 minutes to walk from the airporter bus arrival sidewalk to the ticket counter inside the station.

From Milano Centrale to Venezia S. Lucia, there are frequent ES-City trains with reserved seats given automatically upon ticket purchase. Travel time to Venice is 2 hours, 35 minutes. There are also a handful of "regular" ES trains, which are faster by only 15 minutes, yet cost nearly 5 Euros more: not really justifiable, except if convenient according to your schedule. Second class on the ES-City train is fine for most travellers, although first class is not that much more expensive (about 11 Euros more, though not worthwhile for most).

You can buy the ticket beforehand online. That way your friend doesn't have to worry about having Euros right away and correct change. Once the ticket is bought online, you can print it and just hand it to the drive when you hop on the bus. It's about an hours drive...and if your friend hasn't been to Milan Centrale station...they should give themselves extra time. Milan train station scared the BEJEESUS out me...its scarey (in my opinion). Do a google search for the shuttle website.

If you buy your ticket online, you're limiting yourself to the operator which sold the ticket, as I don't believe they are interchangeable.

Just buy the ticket from the bus driver: it's 7.50 Euros one-way, and the driver can give you change for a 10 Euro bill. The website for Malpensa Shuttle shows travel time of 50 minutes to Milano Centrale Station, but you should allow up to 80-90 minutes during rush hour, just to be "safe".

I've been to Milano Centrale many times: it's big and bustling, but I never felt unsafe (at least not during daylight hours). Maybe in the dead of night, it might be a different story.

Hello dok, here is the official website for the Malpensa Shuttle.

http://www.malpensashuttle.it/e-default.htm