Southern Italy-Sheffield by train

[Iskra]

So I'm spending around 4 weeks in Southern Italy in June, a trip I make regularly and I'm very bored of flying, last year I decided to drive it, this year I'm opting for the train. It's quite a journey, and I would like your help on a few things please:

1) When do tickets become available for Trenitalia and SNCF trains?
2) Tickets/itinerary's are not currently available, but I've formulated a plan based upon the current timetables using the same days of the week as I would be travelling on. Are they likely to change drastically and am I daft to do this?
3) What is Eurostar security/boarding procedure like and how long should I allow? And equally, how fast are things at the other end?
4) If I buy a through-ticket from Trenitalia which requires 3 different trains, what is their policy if one of my trains is delayed and I miss my connection?

This is my planned itinerary using the current timetable:

0726 Locri- Reggio Di Calabria Centrale 0915 this is a branchline service and can run late quite frequently.
0925- Reggio Di Calabria Centrale- Napoli Centrale 1433 IC Train
1450 Napoli Centrale- Torino Porta Nova 2040 Frecciarossa
(Overnight stay, thus it doesn't matter if I'm delayed significantly)
Then either the 0736d/1319a or 1011d/1611a TGV to Paris depending on how I feel at time of booking
(Transfer between stations in Paris)
1904 Paris-London 2039 where I will pick up either a EMT or VTEC home, the EMT last train is 2225 so this leaves plenty of margin for error.

Any general thoughts, other than questioning my sanity?

 

[farci]

You may already know about Trainline where you can search journeys with fares from Locri-London

 

[Iskra]

It's providing me with fares, would that protect me in the event of a delay? All the journeys it provides seem to involve sleeper trains. In my experience sleeper trains are not good time-keepers, which concerns me on such a long journey where a lot could go wrong.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I *think* CIV protection only applies up to a maximum of 2 changes? So you may do well to add a substantial time buffer, perhaps for a civilised breakfast before continuing on.

 

[farci]

Some information here on 'what happens if I miss my train' https://faq.trainline.eu/article/449-miss-train#traindelay

 

[Iskra]

Thank you all. Having looked in further detail, I think the best/simplest thing to do is get to Milan on the train above and then take the Thello sleeper to Paris which arrives at a civilised time, gives me a long time to get to Gare du Nord and saves the price of a hotel room too. I'll try change my Eurostar ticket to be a little earlier though, which would still leave a healthy buffer-time.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Trenitalia bookings open 3 months in advance and can be very good value.
I went the other way (Napoli-Catania) in September, which was easy to book, but I did notice it was harder to book in the summer months (booked out on most dates, even at full fare).
But that was the LHCS boat train, and I expect you'll be using the Freccia service.
You might need to book the journey to Regio di C local train separately.
There were no refreshment facilities on my train (bar a wandering coffee seller at Napoli).

 

[30907]

Your original plan would be fine, assuming you have alternative trains to get you to Torino if a connection is missed.
I woild concur with the Thello option though, to avoid the very late arrival home (remember the time zone change!), but I've not sampled the sleeper. However IIRC the Thello sleepers are being upgraded....

 

[Iskra]

Thank you all for the advice

 

[Iskra]

A brief update. The Thello night train was sadly shown as unavailable for the night I needed when booking, I assume due to overnight engineering works.

I'm therefore doing the following instead:

1) Either train or drive from Locri to Reggio Di Calabria Centrale, Southern Italy.
2) 1010 Reggio Di Calabria Centrale to Roma Termini c1730. IC Train, which cost a mere 9 Euro's!
3) Rome Termini c1750- Milano Centrale c2100. Frecciarossa.

Overnight stay in Milano.

4) c0830 Milano Porta Garibaldi-Paris, TGV 1st class, at around 40 Euros.

Change stations in Paris at a very leisurely pace and get something to eat. Maybe even have a quick spin on the SNCF network.

5) 1904 Paris-London 2039 Eurostar.
6) 2220 London St Pancras-Sheffield 0051. EMT (Tickets not available yet).

 

[30907]

If you splash out on a London International ticket for the last leg you xan catch an earlier train ex STP if all goes well.

 

[Iskra]

If you splash out on a London International ticket for the last leg you xan catch an earlier train ex STP if all goes well.

Hi, thanks for the info, but please can you explain that in more detail for me?

 

[30907]

First, my apologies - it appears from BRFares that the only good value flexible ticket is from KGX not STP, as for some reason EMT don't do discounted singles.

1. Tickets issued to or from LNE London International are valid only with an international ticket.
2. Generally, singles are priced at half the SVR offpeak return, but are valid on almost any train (eg SHF-STP is "no London arrival before 1010" and no evening restriction).
3. The advantage, price apart, is that you don't have to stick to advertised connection times in London, so you could catch the 2101 instead of the 2220.

That said, as Advances on the 2220 are cheap you might prefer to stick with that!

 

[higthomas]

Have you considered getting the sleeper from Regio Di Calabria (or Villa San Giovanni for more choice) to Milan? It might be worth a look?

 

[duesselmartin]

Be aware that SNCF strikes are likely to last into june.

 

[Iskra]

First, my apologies - it appears from BRFares that the only good value flexible ticket is from KGX not STP, as for some reason EMT don't do discounted singles.

1. Tickets issued to or from LNE London International are valid only with an international ticket.
2. Generally, singles are priced at half the SVR offpeak return, but are valid on almost any train (eg SHF-STP is "no London arrival before 1010" and no evening restriction).
3. The advantage, price apart, is that you don't have to stick to advertised connection times in London, so you could catch the 2101 instead of the 2220.

That said, as Advances on the 2220 are cheap you might prefer to stick with that!

Thank you for the explanation, certainly well worth knowing. The 2101 might not be achievable with luggage and then the next departure after that takes an hour longer to reach Sheffield than the 2220 so rushing to catch it doesn't actually confer much of an advantage. I think I'll go for the 2220. NRE does also say the timetables haven't been finalised so I will keep an eye on them for now.

Have you considered getting the sleeper from Regio Di Calabria (or Villa San Giovanni for more choice) to Milan? It might be worth a look?

I've booked most of this now, so I'm committed. The Italian night trains don't seem to get good reviews and from my experiences of seeing them on the Italian network they appear to be very slow and delay-prone.

Be aware that SNCF strikes are likely to last into june.

Thanks for the heads-up. Hopefully it won't affect me, but if it does there are plenty of options for getting flights out of Milan instead of the TGV. I have significant buffer-time built in at the Paris stage which allows me to be flexible in how I get there if needed.

 

[MarcVD]

As a possible diversion, from Milano you have also a daily train to Frankfurt now. Operated by SBB, not using SNCF tracks.Then from there Koln, A'dam and the boat to UK...

 

[Iskra]

I've fallen lucky and will miss the SNCF strikes on my travel days

 

[AY1975]

As a possible diversion, from Milano you have also a daily train to Frankfurt now. Operated by SBB, not using SNCF tracks.Then from there Koln, A'dam and the boat to UK...

Yes, or Köln-Brussels, then Eurostar. Luckily so far only two or three Brussels Eurostars seem to have been cancelled on SNCF strike days.

It's a pity that we no longer have the Brussels-Italy night trains, which were run by Belgian Railways and were withdrawn in the early 2000s. I remember taking the Brussels-Milan night train all the way to Milan in 1998.