Welcome to today's thread - #CrossBorderRail 2026 Tour Day 31 - 4 May - Rimini - Bologna - Milano - Lugano - Basel - Strasbourg
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It’s so nice travelling by train in Italy. Pity #CrossBorderRail hasn’t brought me here very much! (Not many borders)
@jon The problem I had in Milan was buying a ticket. I knew where I wanted to go, but neither knew nor cared which company was running the train, and I was faced with a room full of dozens of ticket machines from different companies with no clue as to which one to use for my chosen destination.
So obvs local people have spotted a business opportunity here, and seeing that I looked a bit puzzled a tout came up to me to offer to guide me to the correct machine. Which he did - thanks! - but he was out of luck because I didn't have any euro cash on me, having just got off the plane.
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Take your pick of high speed trains in Milano. And a Rock
@jon I spot the infamous AlnsaldoBreda VR250, swiftly rebranded after its short-lived and catastrophic appearance in the Netherlands.
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@jon The problem I had in Milan was buying a ticket. I knew where I wanted to go, but neither knew nor cared which company was running the train, and I was faced with a room full of dozens of ticket machines from different companies with no clue as to which one to use for my chosen destination.
So obvs local people have spotted a business opportunity here, and seeing that I looked a bit puzzled a tout came up to me to offer to guide me to the correct machine. Which he did - thanks! - but he was out of luck because I didn't have any euro cash on me, having just got off the plane.
@TimWardCam this is where online ticketing helps
Oh and the forthcoming EU ticketing data regulation will assist further (forcing data sharing).
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@meganL steady improvement of everything. Good regional and high speed trains. Dense timetables. Fair prices. Generally quite reliable. It’s solid all round. And there are many routes that have beautiful things to see out of the window.
@jon @meganL I agree it's good and improving. Some things could be better though:
- Frequency is top-notch on high-speed lines, but clockface scheduling would help on regional lines.
- Luggage space design is poor on high-speed trains. But there is an understanding that in practice some leeway is important for tourism.
- Official options are sometimes terrible with bicycles. e.g. 2 Milano-Napoli connections per day that are very slow and at inconvenient times. No bike spaces on night trains. -
@TimWardCam this is where online ticketing helps
Oh and the forthcoming EU ticketing data regulation will assist further (forcing data sharing).
@jon Well, the existing system did actually work for me ... albeit it didn't work for the tout!
Though I do wonder, in these days when few people carry any cash of any type, how long the touting business will survive.
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@jon @meganL I agree it's good and improving. Some things could be better though:
- Frequency is top-notch on high-speed lines, but clockface scheduling would help on regional lines.
- Luggage space design is poor on high-speed trains. But there is an understanding that in practice some leeway is important for tourism.
- Official options are sometimes terrible with bicycles. e.g. 2 Milano-Napoli connections per day that are very slow and at inconvenient times. No bike spaces on night trains.@cycling_on_rails @jon Oh, man, the luggage rack was a real problem for me in Frecciarossa 2nd class. I would happily have paid for a first class seat, but they were all sold out. That car had an end luggage rack but the 2nd class didn't. My bag was FAR too heavy to put up overhead even for abled folks. Impossible for me.
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@jon @meganL I agree it's good and improving. Some things could be better though:
- Frequency is top-notch on high-speed lines, but clockface scheduling would help on regional lines.
- Luggage space design is poor on high-speed trains. But there is an understanding that in practice some leeway is important for tourism.
- Official options are sometimes terrible with bicycles. e.g. 2 Milano-Napoli connections per day that are very slow and at inconvenient times. No bike spaces on night trains.@jon @meganL There are also some weird gaps in the timetable sometimes. e.g. Milano-Ventimiglia (of #CrossBorderRail relevance) has almost a 2h frequency, except the 13:10 service is missing (goes to Rome instead). So there's a 4h gap between 11:10 and 15:10 without an ideal connection. Likewise between 17:05 and 20:05.
Of course this is all way better than France, but in these cases Italy is so close to reaching the level of its Swiss & Austrian neighbors. 🤏
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@cycling_on_rails @jon Oh, man, the luggage rack was a real problem for me in Frecciarossa 2nd class. I would happily have paid for a first class seat, but they were all sold out. That car had an end luggage rack but the 2nd class didn't. My bag was FAR too heavy to put up overhead even for abled folks. Impossible for me.
@meganL @jon And it's not like the overhead racks are large either on most Italian high-speed trains... Anything larger than a carry-on has often no official spot. Sometimes seats are repurposed as luggage racks: https://cycling-on-rails.com/train-bicycle-guide/images/italy/etr1000-luggage-on-seats.Ao3B9lQMLCZ5.jpg
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It’s so nice travelling by train in Italy. Pity #CrossBorderRail hasn’t brought me here very much! (Not many borders)
@jon best trains in Europe IMHO
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@meganL @jon And it's not like the overhead racks are large either on most Italian high-speed trains... Anything larger than a carry-on has often no official spot. Sometimes seats are repurposed as luggage racks: https://cycling-on-rails.com/train-bicycle-guide/images/italy/etr1000-luggage-on-seats.Ao3B9lQMLCZ5.jpg
@cycling_on_rails @jon The train from Bologna Centrale to Lecce was PACKED. The only available seat was one executive class seat going for 300 euro. So unfortunately I could not put my suitcase in like that. The train employee had me put it in the passage between trains but that got moved by a parent later when they brought their gigantor baby buggy in.
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However these data problems here are incomprehensible
DB and SBB think the 12:43 train is to Lugano
Trenitalia thinks it only goes to the border station Chiasso
/ 
(It will go to Lugano)
@jon Hum the latest Trenitalia app (on Android) knows it's running, even until Locarno.
However, it's throwing 30-second spinners before reporting errors to the user. I don't remember it being that bad on the previous UX.
In any case, Trenitalia app doesn't let you purchase the end-to-end ticket. Maybe there's a Trenord app for that?
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There were also some ETR500 and Giruno too. But those weren’t so neat to photograph.
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remi…
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Take your pick of high speed trains in Milano. And a Rock
@jon I pick the yellow one in the middle!
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@jon Hum the latest Trenitalia app (on Android) knows it's running, even until Locarno.
However, it's throwing 30-second spinners before reporting errors to the user. I don't remember it being that bad on the previous UX.
In any case, Trenitalia app doesn't let you purchase the end-to-end ticket. Maybe there's a Trenord app for that?
@cycling_on_rails I’m quite sure my iOS app is up to date. Hmmm.
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I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remi…
#CrossBorderRail 2026 Spring Tour Train 105 of 125
R 80 (25518) / RE 80 (25518)
12:43 Milano Centrale - Lugano 13:58
Trenord – SBB (Tilo)Train type: Stadler EMU, 2x 6 short carriages
️ (3kV dc, 15kV ac)
: 
🦽: (step free)
🛜:
️
️: ️
🧳:
(good Stadler design)
🧽:
Interrail: (accepted)
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@jon Hum the latest Trenitalia app (on Android) knows it's running, even until Locarno.
However, it's throwing 30-second spinners before reporting errors to the user. I don't remember it being that bad on the previous UX.
In any case, Trenitalia app doesn't let you purchase the end-to-end ticket. Maybe there's a Trenord app for that?
@cycling_on_rails @jon is it possible to buy TrenNord tickets with the TreinItalia app? I wasn't able to figure that out when I was in Milan last year
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I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remi…
@jon You could upgrade to first class
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@cycling_on_rails I’m quite sure my iOS app is up to date. Hmmm.
@jon Sounds like a very fresh update, this new version was released on May 2nd. So I expect they are doing a phased rollout between platforms. You're not missing much given all the bug reports in recent online reviews!
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Take your pick of high speed trains in Milano. And a Rock
@jon maybe we will see them soon here in germany
https://www.heise.de/news/Konkurrenz-fuer-Deutsche-Bahn-Italienischer-Anbieter-Italo-plant-Markteintritt-11280559.html -
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remind myself it’s better these annoying tourists take trains rather than something else
I must remi…
@jon "Better a drunkard in my train rather than at the steering wheel of his car"
Even when the consequences are rarely pleasant for passengers and cleaning agents
