Trenitalia, changes (again) on regional tickets purchased digitally. The October Revolution is called automatic online check-in and should eliminate or minimize difficulties, inconveniences (and fines) for customers who daily or sporadically board trains intended mostly (but not only) for commuter traffic.
The issue arose with the introduction of the new digital ticket last summer. An innovation which, on the one hand, has increased the flexibility of the coupon, which previously required the passenger to get on the booked train – or at most, on one of those that arrived at their destination no later than two hours from the departure time at the station of start of the trip – while from August onwards it allows an unlimited number of date changes up to the day before departure, and time changes on the same day, on the other hand it has created difficulties due to the obligation to check in a priori. Among the canonical victims are the elderly, people less familiar with technology and, inevitably, foreign tourists.
How validation is done
To date, online validation can be carried out either from your reserved area or, for those who are not registered, on the online ticket received via text message or email, or on the company app and among other things materializes the QR codes which is requested by default for example a Rome Termini. Forgetting this procedure – or not having time to do it, or perhaps doing it for the wrong train because you get stuck in a queue at the gate at stations like the one mentioned, and where trains covering certain routes depart at close frequency, it involves a fine of 5 eurosdespite the ticket having been duly paid for.
All this created setbacks and discontent such as to induce a meeting between the same Trenitalia and more important consumer associations, which was held a few days ago and produced two results. The first is the official confirmation of what could normally happen if you got on a train without having checked in: the passenger who was not able to check in has the possibility of going to the conductor, who will carry out the validation at edge
The second concerns the not too distant future. Trenitalia is preparing to allow automatic train check-in. The ways in which everything will be implemented are not yet clear, but, once definitively finalised, it should protect from problems not only the customer who chooses a train and keeps his decision until the day of departure, but even those who change time and date several times. And at the same time, protect the company from those who want to evade the validation of online ticketwhich is already being chosen today by 75 percent of travellers.
