I'm researching train travel (May, 07) between Monterosso (in Cinque Terre) and Siena. Many options are available, but the times BETWEEN train connections seems tight to me . . . like 10 minutes to make a connection in Pisa. Has anyone traveled recently on Italian trains -- are these tight connections really workable, or will the stress ruin the morning? Thanks!

just traveled on a host of Italian regional trains...not uncommon to be 'ritardo' a bit but were pretty good.

But there are usually at least hourly trains on the routes you describe so if you miss the 10 minute connection you won't have to wait too long for the next train. so no reason for stress.
Pisa is also a fairly small easy to manage station with only a few platforms to negotiate.
I find the easiest site for schedules is www.bahn.de, the official German rail site that has schedules for all of Europe.

I've seen even tighter connections-as little as 3-4 minutes in some cases- all over Europe. Not to worry, the short times are in smaller stations and sometimes you aren't even going to another platform. You DO have to move quickly, but it's not really a problem.

Happy planning!
~Liz

And if you have to change again in Empoli that is even easier as there are only a couple of platforms.

ttt