Tickets to Milan Malpensa airport

[radamfi]

Malpensa airport is served by the Malpensa Express which runs to Milano Nord Cardorna every 30 minutes and Milano Centrale every 30 minutes. The fare from the city centre to the airport is 13.00 whereas the fare between the city centre and Busto Arsizio is 4.00 and the fare between Busto Arsizio and the airport is 4.00. Most if not all trains stop at Busto Arsizio. So it looks like you can split tickets at Busto Arsizio and save 5.00. But it isn't that simple.

The Malpensa Express trains from Cardorna are 1st class only, whereas the ones from Centrale have 1st and 2nd class. But they are both run by the same stock and there is no branding anywhere on the train to show what part is 1st and what part is 2nd! This bizarre quirk does mean you can only split tickets using the ones from Centrale unless you get a 1st class ticket. Although there are other normal trains between the city centre and Busto Arsizio which you can use.

Another complication is you need to validate tickets before boarding. Could you validate a ticket between Busto Arsizio and the airport at Centrale or somewhere else en route such as Bovisa? Otherwise you could get off the train, rebook and validate at Busto Arsizio. Alternatively you could presumably get a mobile ticket, but has anyone got the Trenord app to work?

 

[farci]

This might be a less complex solution:
https://www.terravision.eu/airport_transfer/busmalpensa-airport-milan/

 

[radamfi]

This might be a less complex solution:
https://www.terravision.eu/airport_transfer/busmalpensa-airport-milan/

But if you are coming from somewhere else in the Milan region, you might want to make a connection at, say, Saronno, and so not go through the city centre.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Malpensa airport is served by the Malpensa Express which runs to Milano Nord Cardorna every 30 minutes and Milano Centrale every 30 minutes. The fare from the city centre to the airport is 13.00 whereas the fare between the city centre and Busto Arsizio is 4.00 and the fare between Busto Arsizio and the airport is 4.00. Most if not all trains stop at Busto Arsizio. So it looks like you can split tickets at Busto Arsizio and save 5.00. But it isn't that simple.

I can't help but laugh at that place name.

The Malpensa Express trains from Cardorna are 1st class only, whereas the ones from Centrale have 1st and 2nd class. But they are both run by the same stock and there is no branding anywhere on the train to show what part is 1st and what part is 2nd! This bizarre quirk does mean you can only split tickets using the ones from Centrale unless you get a 1st class ticket.

I found this bizarre - is it because Trenitalia have a relatively regimented regional ticketing scheme, and so the "fake First Class" is the only way to charge a premium as is typical of airport services?

Is splitting even allowed? In Ireland it is expressly prohibited, and you could technically be prosecuted for it. Legal precedent prevents UK TOCs from applying such a restriction (BR tried it and lost spectacularly).

 

[radamfi]

I found this bizarre - is it because Trenitalia have a relatively regimented regional ticketing scheme, and so the "fake First Class" is the only way to charge a premium as is typical of airport services?

Trenitalia is a joint owner in Trenord, but from the point of view of the passenger it is looks like a separate company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trenord

Trenord is a railway company which is responsible for the operation of regional passenger trains in Lombardy. The company was established by the two main railway companies in Lombardy, Trenitalia and Ferrovie Nord Milano (FNM), to manage train operations in the region. The equity is equally divided between the two companies.

Trenord's fare structure is shown here. As you can see, it is km based for all routes other than the Malpensa Express which has its own fare structure. "Corsa semplice" means "single class".

http://www.trenord.it/media/2352773/tariffe_tn_dal_1_febbraio_2019_a4.pdf

Given that the Malpensa Express stops along the way, it also works as a local train, but I only noticed that it is 1st class only even for trips not including the airport by looking at the Trenord app. Initially I thought it was helpful in giving the 1st and 2nd class prices when using the app's journey planner. For example where there is no 1st class on a route it doesn't give 1st class fares. But when using the Malpensa Express for non-airport journeys it is essential to know whether there is 2nd class or not. The app does not give 2nd class fares for such journeys. Same for the full size web online journey planner. The yellow posters at stations confirms that some Malpensa Express trains are 1st class only whereas others have both 1st and 2nd. The ones with 1st class only are highlighted in red on those posters.

 

[eastwestdivide]

"Corsa semplice" means "single class".

Minor correction: in that PDF fare table, corsa semplice = single, doppia corsa = return

 

[dutchflyer]

Yes, you MUST get off, stamp and thus wait 30 mins at BA and this is also the case on the Roma airport trains-nominally also all 1st cl and barring all local regional tickets, also rovers. They have also placed the validators quite far away for that purpose.
The Lombardia rover tickets, quite cheap for what they cover (but thats common in IT for local transit) are also not valid on the last leg.
Very much the same thing applies to through fares in Malaysia on the KLIA Airport express; save some 20 MYR by breaking-going out, buy new and going in again at some midway point in Putrajaya, thus using the local all-stops trains only. But then-was not that also the case on HE=Heathrow express/stops?

 

[Bletchleyite]

TfL Rail (the stopping service) is cheaper, but you needn't break your journey to take advantage of that.