How to travel from Milan to Bologna by train

Final Destination: Roma or Napoli or Salerno (and others)

Some of these trains also call at Milano Rogoredo and depending on where you'll be setting off from in Milano, taking the trains from this station can be time saver.
Milano Centrale is on the northern edge of the city centre, so trains initially head north and then make their way around the city, so that they can take the route south towards Bologna.

Local trains head to Milano Rogoredo from multiple stations in the city centre, including Milano Porta Venezia and Milano Porta Vittoria.

Milano Rogoredo is also on line M3 of the Milan Metro, but this line also serves Milano Centrale.

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings usually open: Up to 6 months ahead of the travel date; Though the booking periods will be typically be shorter when looking up journeys for travel after the second Sundays in December and June.

Trains departing at different times can be cheaper than others leaving on the same day, so you may need to look through the day's departures to find the cheapest fares.

The choice of train services - and tickets / prices

The faster (AV) train service between and Milano* and Bologna is provided by:
(1) these Frecce trains operated by Trenitalia, and
(2) alternative Italo trains

*= Some Frecce and Italo trains depart from stations in Milano other Milano Centrale.
If you will be travelling from Milano Centrale then use this specific station when looking up tickets and prices.

Tickets for the Trenitalia Frecce trains can be placed on sale up to 6 months in advance, but the tickets for travel by Italo trains are typically made available around 3 to 4 months ahead.
Trenitalia does not sell tickets for the Italo trains - and Italo does not sell tickets for the Trenitalia trains.

If you're booking no more than 4 months ahead and have no particular preference for the train that you will be taking - the price and departure times of the Frecce and Italo trains can be directly compared on Trainline or Omio or Rail Europe. Though look out for the fact that these ticketing services will charge a booking fee.

The types of ticket:

Up to four core types of ticket will be available for advance booking:

(1) Long-term promotional tickets, such as 'Frecce Special' tickets, give discounts of up to 70% on the 'Base' ticket price.
Though they are made available in limited numbers, so can sell out on popular departures more than a month ahead of the travel date.
Regardless of how popular a departure / train is, they are only available up until 14 days ahead of departure.
They also can't be refunded or transferred to another departure.

(2) Super-Economy tickets are the cheapest option for journeys when a long-term promotion is either not available, or sold out.
They need to be booked more than five days ahead of a travel date.
They also can't be refunded or transferred to another departure.

(3) 'Economy' tickets are mid-priced, but they can be transferred to another departure, up to two hours before the train you were originally booked on, is due to leave.
However, you will need to pay the price difference, if tickets for the train you have swapped to are more expensive (they likely will be).
They also can't be refunded.

(4) Base tickets are more expensive, but they are more flexible.
They can be refunded if the price per person is more than €10 - And they can also be transferred to another departure up until the time of the of your original departure - Meaning that you can go to the ticket counter and swap them to an earlier or later train.
You will have to pay any price difference, but the advance prices of Base tickets aren't heavily discounted.
You can also transfer them to another departure online, but this needs to be done at least two hours before the original departure time - When there is less than two hours to go, you'll need to use a ticket counter at the station.

Additional information, including what to look out for in general when booking, is available on the general guide to booking Italian rail tickets.

Child tickets:

• Those aged 3 and under travel for free, but they cannot occupy their own seats.
• Children aged 4 -14 receive a 50% discount on the 'Base' ticket price.
  However, adult 'Super Economy' tickets can be discounted by more than 50%; So if these tickets are still available for your journey, it can be worth paying the adult rate for a child aged 4 - 14.

Rail Pass Users:

If you will be travelling with a valid Eurail or InterRail pass, you will need to reserve prior to boarding these trains, either at the station (using a Trenitalia ticket machine or ticket desk) OR by booking them online.

How to book the rail pass reservations online is included on our guide to using rail passes in Italy.

If you are happy to pay the €10 reservation fees, target these trains and avoid the slower Frecce trains; as the rail pass reservation fees are the same on those trains.

Final Destination: Roma or Napoli or Salerno or Reggio di Calabria

Most of these trains also call at Milano Rogoredo

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: Around 3 - 4 months ahead of the travel date

The choice of train services - and tickets / prices

The faster (AV) train service between and Milano* and Bologna is provided by:

(1) these Italo trains
(2) alternative Frecce trains operated by Trenitalia

*= Some Frecce and Italo trains depart from stations in Milano other Milano Centrale.
If you will be travelling from Milano Centrale then use this specific station when looking up tickets and prices.

Tickets for the Trenitalia Frecce trains are placed on sale around 6 months in advance, but the Italo train tickets are made available around 3 to 4 months ahead.
However, Trenitalia does not sell tickets for the Italo trains - and Italo does not sell tickets for the Trenitalia trains.

If you're booking no more than 4 months ahead and have no particular preference for the train that you will be taking - the price and departure times of the Frecce and Italo trains can be directly compared on Trainline or Omio or Rail Europe. Though look out for the fact that these ticketing services will charge a booking fee.

Additional information, including what to look out for in general when booking, is available on the general guide to booking Italian rail tickets.

The types of ticket

Up to four types of tickets are available for journeys by Italo trains - regardless of the type of ambience / travel class you wish to travel by.
The three types of ticket which are always available are:

(1) Low Cost tickets = You can change the class, date and time of your trip, as many times as you like, up to 72 hours before scheduled departure - Subject to availability
But will be charged 20% of the price initially paid + plus any price difference with the original price
You can purchase a Refund Option for an additional cost - and if you then want to cancel you will receive 80% of the price paid; Without it this type of ticket is not refundable

(2) Economy = You can change the class, date and time of your trip, as many times as you like, up to 3 minutes before scheduled departure - Subject to availability
But will be charged 20% of the price initially paid + plus any price difference with the original price
If you want to cancel you will receive 60% of the price paid.

(3) Flex = You can change the class, date and time of your trip, as many times as you like up to 3 minutes before scheduled departure - without paying any price difference from the offer available at the time of booking.
If you want to cancel you will receive 80% of the price paid
Plus if you miss your train, you will have an hour to re-book by the next available departure - but this can only be arranged at an Italo booking desk at a station, or by telephone.

When long term promotions such as the Extra Summer Offer are available, they will be the cheapest type of ticket, but they cannot be re-booked or refunded.

Child tickets:

• Those aged 3 and under travel for free, but they cannot occupy their own seats.
• On the Family Offer ticket, children aged 4 to 13 travel for free if they are in a travel party of 2 to 4 people, with at least one of them being an adult (aged 15 and over).
  However, this Family Offer only applies when the Adult purchases tickets at the Flex fare price - Though the Adult(s) will receive a 50% discount.
  The offer is only available when travelling in Smart class (standard class).

Worth knowing is that this offer has terms, which are atypical of Flex tickets, including

• must be purchased at least 3 days before the departure date
• no changes or refunds.

When not booking under the Family Offer, children aged 4 to 13 will be charged Adult rates.

Rail passes

Eurail and InterRail passes can't be used on Italo trains.

Final Destination: Ancona or Lecce (or Taranto or Bari)

Most of these trains also call at Milano Rogoredo

These trains also call at: Parma and Modena

Book early and save: Yes

Online bookings open: 4 months ahead of the travel date

These trains are around an hour slower than the alternative high speed Frecce trains, because they don't take the high speed line between Milano and Bologna.
However, if travelling at the cheapest possible price is your primary criteria, then these trains can be worth considering. 
The most heavily discounted tickets inevitably sell out faster on the faster Frecce trains, so these trains can be more than €10 cheaper.

Rail Pass Users:

If you will be travelling with a valid Eurail or InterRail pass, you will need to reserve prior to boarding these trains, either at the station (using a Trenitalia ticket machine or ticket desk) OR by booking them online.

Though if you have a rail pass avoid taking these trains, as the €10 rail pass reservation fees are the same price on the alternative faster Frecciarossa trains.